[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 89 (Monday, May 10, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25864-25866]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-10950]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
National Institutes of Health
Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Lost People Finder
System
SUMMARY: Under the provisions of Section 3507(a)(1)(D) of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, the National Library of Medicine (NLM), the
National Institutes of Health (NIH) has submitted to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve the
information collection listed below. This proposed information
collection was previously published in the Federal Register on February
8, 2010 (Vol. 75, No. 25, p. 6207) and allowed 60 days for public
comment. No public comments were received. The purpose of this notice
is to allow an additional 30 days for public comment. The National
Institutes of Health may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is
not required to respond to, an information collection that has been
extended, revised, or implemented on or after October 1, 1995, unless
it displays a currently valid OMB control number.
Proposed Collection: Title: Lost People Finder System, Type of
Information Collection Request: Extension of currently approved
collection [OMB No. 0925-0612, expiration date 07/31/2010], Form
Number: NA; Need and Use of Information Collection: The National
Library of Medicine (NLM) proposes the continuation of a voluntary
collection of information to assist in the reunification of family
members and loved ones who are separated during a disaster.
Reunification is important to both the emotional well-being of people
injured during a disaster and to their medical care. Family members
often provide important health information to care providers who are
treating the injured (e.g., providing medical history or information
about allergies) and they may provide longer-term care for those
released from emergency care. NLM proposes this data collection as part
of its mission to develop and coordinate communication technologies to
improve the delivery of health services. The data collection is
authorized pursuant to sections 301, 307, 465 and 478A of the Public
Health Service Act [42 U.S.C. 241, 242l, 286 and 286d]. NLM is a member
of the Bethesda Hospitals' Emergency Preparedness Partnership (BHEPP),
which was established in 2004 to improve community disaster
preparedness and response among hospitals in Bethesda, Maryland that
would likely be called upon to absorb mass casualties in a major
disaster in the National Capital Region. BHEPP hospitals include the
National Naval Medical Center (NNMC), the National Institutes of Health
Clinical Center (NIH CC), and Suburban Hospital/Johns Hopkins Medicine.
NLM, with its expertise in communications, information management, and
medical informatics joined BHEPP to coordinate the R&D program, one
element of which is development of a lost person finder to assist in
family reunification after a disaster. The system could be deployed not
only during a disaster in the
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National Capitol Area, but during other disasters that involve a
Federal Government response. NLM's Lost People Finder System would
collect information, on a voluntary basis, about people who are missing
and who are found (recovered) during a disaster. Information on
recovered individuals would be gathered voluntarily from medical and
relief personnel who either use specialized applications developed by
NLM for smart mobile computing and communications devices, such as the
iPhone, iPad, Android, or BlackBerry, or submit information to NLM by
email via computer or cell phone. The iPhone application developed by
NLM enables submission of photographs and descriptive information about
found (recovered) victims in a structured format, e.g., name (if
available), age category and/or range, gender, general status (healthy,
injured), location. Text notes and voice notes that might identify the
speaker (victim, or relief workers assisting in the reunification
efforts) could also be submitted. Information about missing persons
would be submitted by members of the public who are seeking family
members, friends, and other loved ones, or could be provided by relief
aid workers assisting in reunification efforts. An interactive Web-
based system offers the public a tool for searching for people who have
been found (e.g., recovered by medical staff and other relief workers)
and for voluntarily posting information about people who are still
missing. In addition, the system would collect information on a regular
basis from other publicly available systems that are used for
reunification during a disaster for information (e.g., the Google
Person Finder system that was deployed during the 2010 earthquakes in
Haiti). Information submitted directly to NLM's Lost People Finder
System would be transferred to other systems that are endorsed by U.S.
Government agencies to ensure that users of such systems can search the
complete set of available information for their family members and
loved ones and to ensure that use of the NLM system in no way
interrupts or distracts from the operation or use of other person
finder systems. NLM would also use the data to evaluate the functioning
and utility of the lost person finder and guide future enhancements to
the system. Frequency of Response: The NLM Lost People Finder would be
activated only during disasters or emergencies in which U.S. Government
agencies are called to contribute to relief efforts. It would operate
until cessation of relief efforts. During this period of time,
information on found persons would be submitted by first-responders,
medical, and other relief personnel on an ad-hoc basis, possibly
several times per day. Information about missing persons would be
submitted voluntarily by members of the public (i.e., those who are
seeking family members, friends, and other loved ones) on an ad hoc
basis, once or twice during the disaster. Affected Public: Individuals
or households. Type of Respondents: Emergency Care First-Responders,
Physicians, and Other Health Care Providers who have found (recovered)
people, and family members seeking a missing person. Estimate of
burden: The annual reporting burden is as follows: The estimated burden
consists of the burden to emergency responders (care providers, relief
workers) of voluntarily entering data into the system about found
people and of family members voluntarily entering data to list a
missing person and/or search for possible matches. The burden may vary
significantly from one disaster to another, depending upon the number
of people affected, and the annualized burden would vary, depending
upon the number of disasters that occur. Using the 2010 earthquake in
Haiti as a model, we estimate that some 500 emergency responders might
use the system during the course of the relief effort and that each
might submit information on 100 people. Submission of information,
especially through the iPhone application, is very fast and is
estimated to average not more than 5 minutes per entry. The number of
family members entering information about a missing person could be
much higher. Based on use of the Google Person Finder system during the
Haiti earthquake (which contained information on 55,000 people as of
April 2010, most of whom were missing people), we estimate that some
50,000 family members might use the system twice during a disaster.
Data entry would average no more than 5 minutes. Based on these
estimates, the total hour burden is calculated to be 12,000 hours. All
use of the system is voluntary. Improved estimates of the burden, in
particular the number of respondents and frequency of response, could
be provided after the initial use of the system in Haiti.
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Estimated Estimated
Estimated number of Average burden total annual
Types of respondents number of responses per hours per burden hours
respondents respondent response requested
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Emergency Care First-Responders, Physicians, 500 100 0.08 4,000
Other Health Care Providers....................
Family members seeking a missing person......... 50,000 2 0.08 8,000
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Total....................................... 50,500 .............. .............. 12,000
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The annualized cost to respondents for each year of the clearance
is estimated to be $293,120.
There are no Capital Costs, Operating Costs, and/or Maintenance
Costs to report.
Request For Comments: Written comments and/or suggestions from the
public and affected agencies should address one or more of the
following points: (1) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance of the function of
the agency, including whether the information will have practical
utility; (2) Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the
validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (3) Enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and
(4) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who
are to respond, including the use of appropriate automated, electronic,
mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms
of information technology.
Direct Comments to OMB: Written comments and/or suggestions
regarding the item(s) contained in this notice, especially regarding
the estimated public burden and associated response time, should be
directed to the: Office of Management and Budget, Office of Regulatory
Affairs, [email protected] or by fax to 202-395-6974,
Attention: Desk
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Officer for NIH. To request more information on the proposed project or
to obtain a copy of the data collection plans and instruments, contact:
David Sharlip, National Library of Medicine, Building 38A, Room B2N12,
8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20894, or call non-toll free number
301-402-9680 or e-mail your request to [email protected].
Comments Due Date: Comments regarding this information collection
are best assured of having their full effect if received within 30 days
of the date of this publication.
Dated: April 30, 2010.
Betsy L. Humphreys,
Deputy Director, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of
Health.
[FR Doc. 2010-10950 Filed 5-7-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P