COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Communication system in hospital encompass intra-departmental intercom, telephone, paging (overhead and wireless), nurses call, data communications, computerized visual display terminals, television, cable television and closed circuit television, alarm system, central dictation, monitoring and the most recent telemedicine, teleconsulting and so on. The ability to transmit messages- voice, video, print and data- in a quick, accurate and economical manner depends on the ready availability of the hospitals communications network and facilities. Instantaneous and reliable communication is crucial to hospitals, a slow response or missed communication can be life threatening. Poor communication can result in overall organizational inefficiency.

Telephone system: Most telephone system have flexible circuits that allow telephone calls to be transferred to another area as, for e.g., to the admitting office. Some other new features are: touchtone dialing, call pick up, call forwarding, conference capability, transferability of incoming and outgoing calls and direct dialing. Within the hospital, interconnecting telephone should be provided for all departments and sections including operating rooms, ICUs, nurses stations, offices, maintenance, housekeeping and elevators. A telephone service outlet should be provided midway in the elevator shaft to connect the telephone in the elevator. All intercom telephones should be dial type that permits intercommunication without calling the hospital switchboard. As far as possible, telephones should be installed in patient rooms, especially in private and special rooms. Jacks may be provided in multi-bed general wards for the use of sick patients who cannot come to the nursing station to receive or make a call.

Public telephones should be provided at convenient locations for outpatients, visitors and staff, particularly in the outpatient area, inpatient area, emergency department, near the labour delivery suites and in the fathers waiting room, if there is one. In addition to public telephones, there should be a convenient room where visitors, outpatients and hospital personnel can make assisted STD and ISD calls. At the construction stage, conduits should be provided to facilitate installation of telephones wherever necessary, keeping future needs in mind.

Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN): Telephone, computer, printer, fax and almost anything else that is electronic can be plugged into a single telephone line to provide an integrated communication system. Nurse Call system: The nurse call system ranges from the simplest- a mere visual signal system- to the most complex and sophisticated computercontrolled system with visual and audio indicators, two way voice communication and advanced facilities for management information. It can be linked to the panic button in the patient s bathroom, code blue alarm system and the fire alarm system. The feature common to all system is the switch or button provided at the patients bedside which when activated registers the call at the nurses station. In the traditional system, a push button with a flexible cord is provided to each bed. The signal can be switched off only at the bedside. A pilot light is placed over each bed if there are more than one bed in the room. A central monitoring panel is provided at the nurses station. The system has the following components: Panel in the patient room Patient room door panel Main nurse station panel Monitoring panel Computer interface Software Alert panel Computer voice interface

Public Address System: A public address system or wired or overhead paging is invaluable for making announcements to a large number of people

in assembly halls and other strategic locations. The system should be designed for zone paging so that information can be transmitted to selected places without disturbing patients and hospital staff in other areas. CCTV: In some hospitals, CCTV is used in the operating rooms to transmit information to consulting doctors for advice and to residents and students for teaching purposes. It is also used in cardiac catheterization procedures for displaying an X-ray image of the catheter position. In advanced countries, CCTV is used by the nurses to view children in isolation, and for visitor patient two way viewing. CCTV is widely used in hospitals for surveillance operation.