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International Group Relies On Sophisticated Technology and Connex Conferencing Services to Augment Radiation Emergency Procedures Illustrating that technology continues to reshape traditional problem solving, Dr. Dominic Screnci, director of The Boston University School of Medicine educational media department, recently hosted a "virtual training session" on radiation disaster preparedness for five of the republics that formerly comprised the Soviet Union. Connex International, a Danbury, Connecticut-based audio conferencing pioneer, provided all voice line support and coordination, elements that are especially critical in situations where a deteriorating infrastructure threatens the viability of the simplest phone call. Boston University is partner with the University of Massachusetts Medical School and REACTS (Radiation Emergency Assistance Center Training Site), in a regional project funded by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna Austria, to address the threat posed by the lack of medical emergency preparedness in the newly independent States and Eastern Europe. Dilapidated nuclear power plants and lack of regional coordination and lack of local first-response expertise in nuclear emergency preparedness have created a major public health concern. In the fall of 1997, the project sponsors hosted an initial "train-the-trainer" session for physicians and first-responders at the REACTS site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. During the following 12 months, they conducted an additional five in-country courses, but the challenge of sustaining the program remained. "These are financially beleaguered nations," explained Dr. Screnci. "Ongoing travel would have diminished the project's resources, so we installed technology---audio conferencing equipment, computers and collaborative software---at regional sites to create an online training and response network. It will provide an early notification system and enable member countries to continue to learn from one another---not to mention how much more respectful this approach is of everyone's time." In October 1998, the group conducted its first multi-point audiographic conference, a three-hour, 50- participant session for the purpose of developing country-specific medical response plans for radiation accidents. Regional training sites in Armenia, Estonia, Moldova, Russia, the Ukraine along with Austria and the U.S. used the Internet to transmit a slide presentation and still-frame video. Supplemental phone lines supported voice communication. "We'd had point-to-point conferences before," said Dr. Screnci, "but this was far more complex. You also have to realize that without the audio, this approach is worthless. You can lose your picture, but audio is the backbone for all conferencing." The fall 1998 audio-graphic conference was but the first of an ongoing series of multi-location collaborations. Dr. Richard Aghababian of the University of Massachusetts Medical School will direct the next phase---scheduled for August---during which participants will simulate a radiation accident over a 48-hour period. The country representatives will "test their plans" via the live participation, observation and voice and computer network. Eventually the individual country approaches will be combined into a regional consensus on regional accidents. Connex International was responsible for audio testing, real-time monitoring and troubleshooting, as well as the significant cross-time-zone coordination. Connex technicians also taped the session for follow-up reference. "Connex provided us with an essential layer of management to ensure that the event was a success," said Dr. Screnci. "They helped Boston University School of Medicine become a catalyst for cross-border communications that would have otherwise been impossible." This program is encouraging inter-regional collaboration among countries that would not ordinarily collaborate to discuss sensitive issues and, more importantly, unearth solutions to critical problems." As a result of this successful technology application, Boston University's School of Medicine garnered the 1999 ITCA (International Teleconferencing Association) Audiographic/Multimedia Award for Excellence in Teleconferencing. |