Gary King
New Orleans East Hospital
In the days following Hurricanes Katrina, employees at the New Orleans East Hospital, formerly Pendleton Memorial Methodist Hospital, faced the challenge of their lives. One can only imagine how hard it was to coordinate evacuations of patients and employees with no power, landline or cell phone service.
After this life-changing event, government officials understood with great clarity that hospitals needed emergency preparedness plans that didn’t rely on landline or cell phone service for communications. For many providers looking to the next weather-related disaster, the factors of reputation and affordability steer them to adopting Globalstar’s satellite-based technology.
Such was the case for New Orleans East Hospital. Gary King was responsible for all purchasing related to the new hospital, and he to decide what the care providers would use for emergency preparedness communications. Gary needed a fiercely reliable backup communications system, so he talked to staff members about their experience at other facilities.
“The referral from our staff put Globalstar in front of me, but the affordability of it was the determining factor”
“The referral from our staff put Globalstar in front of me, but the affordability of it was the determining factor,” says King. The recommendation from employees with direct experience with the
GSP-1700 Mobile Satellite Phones gave him confidence about the technology’s suitability for the job. In the end, the budget-friendly handsets and airtime plans really cinched the deal. With the purchase of certain plans, the phone comes either free or significantly discounted.
The handset offers many of the same characteristics as traditional mobile phones, including a similar interface and design. This intuitive user experience makes the system a smart choice for a workforce that only occasionally uses satellite service.
In general, satellite phones are slightly larger than today’s mobile phones due to the sizeable antenna required to communicate on satellite frequencies. The GSP-1700 however, fits easily into a pocket, making it ideal for responding with great urgency to a crisis. Globalstar meets all federal SAFECOM standards and requirements for public safety wireless communications interoperability when facing disaster or terrorist attacks.
So in 2014, when New Orleans East Hospital officially opened its doors to patients, staff had five Globalstar mobile satellite phones ready to use in case of an emergency.
Gary and his staff are confident that if another tragedy ever does affect the region, they can rely on Globalstar phones to communicate. Reliable communication means that hospital employees can achieve their goals: providing care and saving lives, no matter what comes their way.