[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

[[Page 25865]]

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
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................          50,500  ..............  ..............          12,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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