A nonprofit healthcare system chose FirstNet®, Built with AT&T, to improve communications and optimize its EMS fleet.
AdventHealth, a nonprofit organization based in Altamonte Springs, Florida, operates in nine states and cares for nearly 9 million people annually. Rob Francisco serves as senior manager of the Emergency Management & Security Operations Center at AdventHealth Central Florida. The Central Florida division has 17 hospitals and EDs across metropolitan Orlando.
AdventHealth Quality Control/Fleet Manager Tim Caporal, a critical care paramedic by trade, manages EMS operations, fleets, and quality control. He procures all equipment for their ambulances and helicopters. “I’m also in charge of the education team, which handles all the education and training for our 322 employees, and logistics, which involves all the procurement of supplies and necessary items for our team members to do their jobs,” he said.
Growing pains
AdventHealth is growing, which has created logistical difficulties. For example, some hospital workers experienced difficulty communicating. “We had varying degrees of spots inside the hospital where transmissions from our traditional radio system were just not possible,” Francisco said. “And some hospitals weren’t built to support traditional radio systems.”
While Francisco and his team researched better communications, Caporal studied telematics and camera solutions for the EMS fleet. “We have ambulances that are literally rolling EDs and ICUs, and we need connectivity to be able to do our jobs,” Caporal said. “One of the biggest challenges is growing the infrastructure and ensuring we’re on the best wireless towers and satellites.”
Priority access from FirstNet
AdventHealth adopted solutions from FirstNet®, Built with AT&T. The nationwide network gives first responders reliable cellular coverage and redundancy even in emergencies like hurricanes.
The healthcare system chose FirstNet Rapid Response to replace the hospitals’ traditional radio systems. Rapid Response Push-to-Talk gives AdventHealth priority access to voice, data, video, location, and interoperability services on the FirstNet network. Francisco likes the solution’s built-in redundancy and cost effectiveness. “We have cellular digital systems in our hospitals that are already built in, so there’s no extra infrastructure cost,” he said.
AdventHealth also added FirstNet Integrated Fleet Solutions. Now Caporal and his team can manage compliance, control costs, and optimize its EMS vehicles from one easy-to-use platform.
Help in hurricanes
AdventHealth operates in North Carolina. When Hurricane Helene ravaged Asheville and other cities in the state, the organization leaned on FirstNet technology. “That area was devastated, and as a FirstNet customer, I was able to request a satellite truck, take our devices to North Carolina, and assist our team,” Francisco said. “By the time I got there with my partner, FirstNet had already partially reinstated much of the service.”
FirstNet also helped when Hurricane Milton hit Florida just 2 weeks later. AdventHealth’s FirstNet representative arranged for power antennas, backup generators, and satellite connectivity. “The primary FirstNet systems never went down here in Florida, and we never had to touch the satellite phones,” Francisco said.
FirstNet Fleet Management boosts safety
AdventHealth also operates standalone emergency care departments, which may not offer the full range of facilities available at its hospitals, Caporal said. If necessary, the hospital’s EMS transports patients from a standalone ED to a hospital.
Expanding care locations helps patients but creates challenges for AdventHealth’s hospital-based EMS service. “We have to make sure that we have enough team members and units or ambulances to respond to those calls as we spread out farther and farther,” Caporal said.
The hospital system relies on FirstNet Fleet Management, which integrates Geotab’s fleet tracking with AT&T Internet of Things (IoT) platforms to simplify operations. This tool improves efficiency, finds problems early, lowers repair costs, and keeps information safe.
Better patient outcomes
FirstNet solutions enable reliable communication with AdventHealth’s ambulances and team members in the field, Caporal said. “That improves our response times, which at the end of the day gets our people to the patient quicker, which then gets the patient to where they need to be quicker, improving our patient outcomes.”
