Newswise — Coordinated communication systems among emergency medical services remain a huge problem five years after 9/11 and nearly a year after Hurricane Katrina struck, according to a recent U.S. Conference of Mayors survey. But a solution may be UAB's Birmingham Regional Emergency Medical Services System (BREMSS), a model for how trauma and mass casualty victims can be routed to the closest appropriately equipped and staffed hospital. Executive Director Joe Acker, said, "Our unique software system manages minute-by-minute life-saving data, gives real-time updates every 30 seconds and provides air and ground ambulance routing. We have the capacity to identify an outbreak of symptoms that may be due to a public health or terrorist event." BREMSS, which has reduced trauma deaths 12 percent, recently won the Mitretek Innovations Award in Homeland Security.