The R.U.S.H. Initiative, a Tech-Enabled Collaborative Care and Response Model from Beyond Lucid Technologies, Named a “Cutting Edge Practice” by the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs
AMCHP’s Maternal & Child Health (MCH) Innovations Database identifies “effective practices and policies from the field that are positively impacting MCH populations.”
CONTACT:
Jonathon S. Feit, MBA, MA
Co-Founder & Chief Executive
Beyond Lucid Technologies, Inc.
(650) 648-3727
NOT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Danville, Calif., and Washington, D.C. (March 17, 2025) — During the annual conference of the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP) taking place in our Nation’s Capital, the theme of which is “Partnering for Impact,” Beyond Lucid technologies (BLT) is proud to announce that AMCHP has named the R.U.S.H. Initiative a “Cutting-Edge Practice.” BLT is an innovations firm that connects Mobile Medical (Fire & Emergency Medical Services (E.M.S.) professionals with their ecosystems of care, and the R.U.S.H. Initiative — which stands for “Rare & Under-Served Health” — is designed to encourage collaboration among Fire, E.M.S., Public Safety, and Public Health agencies, School Health Administrators, parents and young people with serious health challenges. As of 2025, the second year in which the R.U.S.H. Initiative has been generously supported by Amazon Web Services (AWS), about 2.75 million Children & Youth with Special Health Needs (CYSHNs) are under coverage of various regional R.U.S.H. Initiative deployments.
Inspired by Oregon’s H.E.R.O. Kids Registry (“Health Emergency Ready Oregon”) — to which more than 70 Fire & EMS agencies across that state now have access in the field, at the patient’s side, and which also interoperates with hospital-based data systems—the R.U.S.H. Initiative provides a secure, opt-in, HIPAA- and FERPA-compliant database of critical health context about CYSHNs, to a regional collaborative that is tasked with reaching out to high-risk patients who might require emergency care. The goal of RUSH is to encourage CYSHNs and their families to provide select pertinent details in advance of an emergency, so that if fire, EMS, or police are needed, they can be informed prior to arriving on-scene (or at the very least, immediately upon arrival at the scene). This approach helps them avoid inquiring about important pieces of information while on-scene.
The R.U.S.H. Initiative is powered by BLT’s MEDIVIEW S.H.I.N.E. Registry (“Special Health Information Needs for Emergencies”). The software collects relevant data including whether a patient — who may be unable to speak for him- or her- self during a health crisis — has a communication barrier, an allergy, medical device, or an end-of-life medical order; a mobility, seizure, or breathing issue; a chronic illness such as Type 1 diabetes, cancer, cystic fibrosis, hemophilia, adrenal insufficiency, a rare disease, or even behavioral and mental health challenges. The C.D.C. says 20% of U.S. kids have a “special health need,” a rate that is below other countries such as Brazil, where roughly 26% of young people are CYSHNs (according to the Journal of Pediatric Nursing).
Historically, health navigation and emergency alert programs—like the SSM Cardinal Glennon STARS program, the Handle with Care Registry, the Puzzle Project, Project Austin, Utah’s CHIRP, and Sunflower Lanyard program —have been geographically centered. BLT’s goal is to collaborate with each of these programs and more. The technology behind the R.U.S.H. Initiative lets it cross jurisdictional boundaries as a “database of databases,” so Responders who arrive to care for patients that have special health needs can be aware of them, no matter where the emergency occurs. Critical use cases include knowing who may be physically challenged to escape a school shooting, a natural disaster evacuation, a school bus crash, or a medical emergency while traveling.
According to Dawn Bailey, Mother, Lived Experience Consultant and Subject-Matter Expert: “As a mom to a young adult daughter with complex medical needs that include cognitive and physical disabilities along with nonverbal communication limitations, there is always a concern about how her needs can be met should there be any sort of accident or event and there isn’t anyone available to communicate for her. Having a streamlined way to access and share important medical information to first responders and medical facilities is vital to ensuring appropriate care. Currently, we are utilizing varying forms of information such as paper/cards for the glove box, premise alerts with fire or registries with law enforcement, which don’t integrate or cross municipal boundaries, limiting their ability to be reliable and accessible. It also places an additional burden on parents/caregivers/individuals to continually update information in multiple places and can lead to outdated information being used, if even at all. Ideally, parents/caregivers/individuals should be able to share the information they feel important in one place and the broader systems and agencies need to be innovative in being able to securely access and share that information across the necessary touch points.”
Randy Lewis, Advocate, longtime Fortune 50 executive, and author of No Greatness Without Goodness, said: “My adult son with autism drives but has difficulty expressing himself. We worry most about encounters with the police who might misinterpret his actions.” Lewis has called attention to the fact that Fire, EMS, and Police professionals may have different levels of access to contextual health information when they arrive on-scene, but all of them need to know if a patient cannot obey instructions. Having such information ahead of time can avoid a potentially adverse encounter such as failing to engage a patient using his or her “safe words.”
Jonathon Feit, Co-Founder & CEO of Beyond Lucid Technologies, said: “Having grown up with a disability, the R.U.S.H. Initiative is not just a professional passion, but also deeply personal. What do I wish Responders had known about me? But during a medical emergency, the risks go beyond stigma and misunderstanding. Doing the right thing can turn out wrongly if Responders lack vital background information in real-time. Our program’s collaborative nature underscores that when it comes to keeping people with complex care needs safe and healthy, we are all pulling together. Moreover, the R.U.S.H. Initiative’s economic model ensures that every community can afford to help Responders protect those who may not be able to speak for themselves.”
About BEYOND LUCID TECHNOLOGIES, INC. & THE R.U.S.H. INITIATIVE
Beyond Lucid Technologies develops software to inform Mobile Medical Professionals about patients’ needs even before they arrive on-scene, then empower them to share insights across the care continuum in real-time. Our Communication Platform-as-a-Service (CPaaS) software is patented, and packed with innovations that make Fire, E.M.S., Non-Emergency/Inter-Facility Medical Transport, Ground & Air Critical Care, and Community Paramedicine / Mobile Integrated Health (CP/MIH) safer, more efficient and more cost-effective. Critical focal areas include post-crash care, intervening in the cycle of substance use disorders, and ensuring that patients’ end-of-life wishes and special health needs are accessible to Responders while they are at the patient’s side. We have been called “Silicon Valley’s Emergency Medical Technology Experts,” and serve Mobile Medical agencies across the U.S., including Puerto Rico & Guam. Our “prehospital pipes” connect more Mobile Medical services to hospitals and public health information exchanges than any other company. Winner of the 2019 Frost & Sullivan Technology Leadership Award for EMS Communications Platform, and awards from the Journal of EMS and the EMS World. Join BLT in realizing a vision of Mobile Medical interoperability at BeyondLucid.com.
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