Suggestions for easing data entry issues?

[mishmish3000]

Hello! One thing we're doing where I work is developing an Access database with a collection of questions we have to assess when a disaster happens.

For example, we need to get people out in the field very quickly to assess the physical needs of survivors--do they need tarps, do they need water, how many cases of broken legs do we have in a specific region...

We have the questions all ready, due to a neat program the CDC has developed called CASPER (you can Google it). And we know we can create paper forms with subsets of these questions on them, and distribute them to field workers.

However... what are your suggestions (be nice) on the quickest way to do data entry? We need to be able to get the data back from the field and come up with numbers (4.5% of adults in a two block area need tarps for their houses) within 24 hours of data collection.

We could do a distributed database or a web-based data entry screen, but in many cases, the affected regions won't have internet access or electricity.

We do have the ability to use small hand-held units to collect data, using a "lite" version of Excel. But then the data would have to be transferred somehow... we're just trying to think outside the box here to be as flexible as possible. If worst comes to worst, we'd collect the paper forms from the field staff, stick 'em on a helicopter flying back to the central command center, and hand-enter them here.

But... just wondering if anyone had other ideas on how to get the data entry done quickly.

Thanks
MishMish3000
(it's getting ready to SNOW BIG TIME here in the middle part of Tennessee... Memphis (West TN) has already gotten quite a bit today... brrrrr!)

[HansV]

I'd give the field workers a sturdy cell phone that is dust-proof, smoke-proof etc., so they can call in to headquarters where someone enters the data into whatever system you prefer.

Or a smart phone with a small app that lets them enter the data and send if off. But in rough circumstances a smart phone might not be ideal.

[jscher2000]

I agree that web based is impractical.

Hand-held devices may be able to store or copy data to an SD card, which could be read on any PC with a card reader.

Perhaps it is possible to encode each respondent's data into few enough characters to send as a text message, with a checksum, I guess, to make sure nothing got lost...

[Wendell]

I would give a serious look at the possibility of using SharePoint - the new Windows7 smartphones have the ability to manipulate and enter data pretty much in real time. It does require having data connectivity of course, which presents some challenges where you have mountainous terrain like you have in Tennessee (and we have here), but it does seem to work fairly well.