Wi-Fi is working hard in our communities to keep us healthy connected, learning and working in this uncertain time. We’re tracking stories and use cases so others can learn from the ideas and to share some good news. Please explore below and check back regularly for updates:
Wi-Fi for Education
Transportation tech turns school buses into mobile WiFi hotspots, sack lunch delivery amid COVID-19 shutdowns – Startland News – 3/21/2020
“When you have a fleet the size most school districts do, they can cover a lot of area very quickly … and they’ve got a lot of hotspots ready to go since all our buses have integrated WiFi,” he said, highlighting a certain excitement that’s come from watching Transportation clients think like entrepreneurs.
“Any entrepreneur goes into something with a unique idea and they’re out there to solve a unique problem,” Styers continued. “Now you have clients that are literally participating in what’s next and then we see it launched. There’s a lot more ownership by your client base [and its exciting.]”
Chromebook handouts and WiFi parking lots, Anne Arundel moving to remote learning during coronavirus pandemic – Capital Gazette – 3/29/2020
To address the digital divide, school parking lots will be open starting Tuesday for families and students to connect to WIFI and upload or download educational materials.
Additionally, the school system has nearly 45,000 Google Chromebooks and so the technology team has been working to reconfigure the devices for students, Arlotto said.
Libraries Want to Turn Bookmobiles Into Free WiFi Trucks During Coronavirus Lockdown – MOTHERBOARD Tech by Vice – 3/24/2020
The FCC says it’s ok for libraries to leave their hotspots on, but ignores questions about whether they can extend broadband access to the broader community.
Indiana University provides free Wi-Fi access in response to COVID-19 crisis – News. Indiana University – 3/24/2020
Indiana University is providing free, 24-hour, high-speed Wi-Fi access across the state to IU students, faculty and staff as well as the general public who may not have internet connectivity due to COVID-19-related library and business closures.
Charleston public libraries offering free Wi-Fi outside branches during coronavirus closures – Charleston City Paper – 3/23/2020
Need Wi-Fi but don’t have anywhere to find it? Charleston County Public Libraries are offering their Wi-Fi for free to patrons parked in cars near library branches. You can access the Wi-Fi from most branch parking lots… Of course, safe practices should be used when accessing this Wi-Fi. If you are in your car, stay there. If you walk or bike to the branch to access Wi-Fi, maintain proper social distancing with others. Local law enforcement will be patrolling the branches to maintain public safety.
Hamilton County Schools expanding free wifi spots throughout county – News Channel 9 – Hamilton County, TN – 3/30/20
Hamilton County Schools says it is expanding giving free wifi access to students while they continue to learn at home as a way to stop the spread of COVID-19.
“It is estimated that about a fourth of our students don’t have access to the internet at home,” said Dr. Bryan Johnson, superintendent of Hamilton County Schools. “EPB Quick Connect is helping students and teachers stay connected during this unprecedented time of distance learning.”
The EPB Quick Connect WiFi hotspots are located in parking lots at schools and other community-based facilities with the intention that people using the service will stay in their cars if possible or maintain a social distance of at least 6 feet and observe all other CDC Guidelines to reduce the possible spread of infection.
Wi-Fi for Public Health
Hospital to end visitation but is adding special WiFi for video chat – Greenfield Daily Reporter – Greenfield, IN – 3/28/20
“Hancock Regional Hospital will all but end face-to-face patient visitation starting Monday, March 30, but is putting in place an online hotspot in its valet parking area so loved ones can visit by video.”
State officials provide new way to offer Georgians High-Speed Internet access – WGXA – Atlanta, Georgia – 3/30/20
“By visiting broadband.georgia.gov, Georgians can find locations to which they can drive for accessing WiFi around the state, made available from telecommunications cooperatives and government agencies. While many public libraries are currently closed, some are still offering limited services such as WiFi outside their buildings.”
‘“By informing patients of how to more easily and affordably connect to the internet, healthcare professionals will be able to provide basic medical care to them from remote locations and also offer critical specialty services,” said Suleima Salgado, Director of Telehealth, Telemedicine, and Rural Health Initiatives for the Georgia Department of Public Health.’
Pediatricians find new ways to treat young patients during COVID-19 crisis – FOX 46 Charlotte – Charlotte, North Carolina – 3/30/20
And there’s another option – a portable medical device which lets parents do a virtual exam – and send images to their doctor.
“It uses a wifi attachment to your smartphone and it’s this little monitor that has a screen on it and you can attach these little attachments… it’s got a stethoscope that you put on your back or your chest, it’s got an otoscope which is what we use to look in ears,” Dr. Addison said.
Texas hospitals respond to coronavirus by increasing capacity – The Texas Tribune – Austin, Texas – 3/25/20
The University of Texas Medical Branch on Tuesday erected triage tents — with hard floors and Wi-Fi to connect medical devices — outside its emergency rooms in Clear Lake and League City. Employees plan to add more this week at their facilities in Galveston and Angleton, said Maureen Milligan, president of the Teaching Hospitals of Texas. Unused buildings, like closed acute care hospitals, have been identified as possible surge facilities, she said.
Florida Hospitals use virtual appointments to cut down on spreading Coronavirus – WTYV – Chipley, Florida – 3/27/20
“If there’s one thing medical experts keep telling us, it’s the larger the gathering of people, the larger the risk of spreading Covid-19; that includes Doctor’s offices and waiting rooms. To cut down on crowds, NorthWest Florida Hospitals have rolled out telemedicine programs—virtual visits with doctors and physicians.”
“Setting up an appointment couldn’t be easier, and the appointments can be done with any electronic device that is WiFi compatible and has a webcam.”
SOC Using Telemedicine to Help Contain the Spread of Coronavirus – WDRB News – Louisville, KY – 3/37/20
SOC Telemed (SOC) announced today its critical role supporting hospitals and health systems nationwide in the fight against COVID-19 and predicts that eventually as much as 25% of all hospital care will be performed remotely through the use of telemedicine. In the current pandemic that percentage will be vastly higher until the situation is further under control. The company is seeing a rapidly increasing need for on-demand acute care via telemedicine and is currently working with more than 550 hospitals and health systems across the country.
SOC reports a rapidly increasing need for on-demand acute care via telemedicine in hospitals around the country. This includes ICU programs offering intensive care for the most critical patients. “Intensivists don’t just work in the ICU, they go everywhere and we can provide that care wherever there is WiFi or a cellular connection,” said Dr. David Fedor associate chief of critical care at SOC.
Doctors and Patients Turn to Telemedicine in the Coronavirus Outbreak – New York Times – 3/11/20
While the notion of seeing a doctor via your computer or cellphone is hardly new, telemedicine has yet to take off widely in the United States. Health insurance plans do typically offer people the option of talking to a nurse or doctor online as an alternative to heading to an emergency room or urgent care center, but most people don’t make use of it. Now doctors, hospital networks and clinics are rethinking how the technology can be used, to keep the worried well calm and away from clinical care while steering the most at risk to the proper treatment.
Health systems are racing to adapt and even develop virtual services that can serve as their front line for patients. “Telehealth is being rediscovered,” said Dr. Peter Antall, the chief medical officer for AmWell, a company based in Boston that is working with health systems across the country. “Everybody recognizes this is an all hands on deck moment,” he said. “We need to scale up wherever we can.”
Telehealth, technology providers and insurers offer range of services in wake of coronavirus – McKnight Long Term Care News – 3/10/20
HealthSignals, focusing on technology solutions for senior living and long-term care communities, offered new clients a year of round-the-clock maintenance and monitoring of a medical grade WiFi platform. The company’s Fiber360-WiFi platform combines with its VOIP- and cellular-enabled SeniorConnect360 for in-building solutions.
It’s the kind of technical underpinning required to deliver effective, reliable and HIPAA-compliant telehealth services.
It’s the kind of technical underpinning required to deliver effective, reliable and HIPAA-compliant telehealth services.
Coronavirus: More buildings, tents go up at Lafayette hospitals for testing, triage for possible surge – Journal and Courier 3/29/20
Two new structures started going up this weekend in a parking lot outside Franciscan Health Lafayette East, as the hospital prepared to do drive-thru coronavirus testing and to make space to triage patients if a surge of patients come.
Decker said traffic in Franciscan’s emergency department continued to be down in the past week, compared to normal levels, in what she said was a sign that community members were heeding pleas to steer clear unless they had a true emergency.
She said Franciscan had tested the tent in the past week to treat people who came in with respiratory-type illnesses, to make sure the medical staff was accustomed to the four-patient unit and to check that generators works, WiFi coverage was adequate and that it could handle the demands of triage-style care.
Real-time fever tracking: How a Seattle startup quickly altered its roadmap to help with COVID-19 – Geek Wire 3/13/20
Sentinel Healthcare, a Seattle health tech startup founded by a doctor seeking a better way to monitor his patients’ condition remotely, has quickly switched up its product roadmap in the face of the COVID-19 crisis.
A mere nine days after making the decision, the company this week launched its Sentinel Fever Tracker, a new app to help health systems, hospitals, government agencies and employers keep tabs on the condition of people believed to be exposed to the novel coronavirus, while they’re under self-quarantine.
The app, available for iOS and Android, connects with a wireless-enabled thermometer and sends real-time updates about at-home temperature readings to a health system, healthcare provider or other organization working with the startup.
Bluetooth and WiFi thermometers that work with the Sentinel app cost in the range of $50. The company had thousands of them available for use this week and expects more to be available in the coming weeks from its vendors.