Emergency services and healthcare providers will know which hospitals have room for patients via a new online system for monitoring patient counts, according to King County health officials.

The KCHealthTrac system, which was launched June 24, tracks hospitals’ emergency department status and hospital bed availability on a daily basis countywide.

“This tool will not only serve us well during catastrophic events, but will also improve health service day-to-day,” said Dr. David Fleming, director of the Seattle-King County Public Health Department.

During a large-scale disaster, such as a major earthquake, the system would be a clearinghouse for managing medical resources across the region, officials said. Hospitals and 9-1-1 dispatchers would know where ambulances should take patients for the most readily available care.

The system’s software, identical to a program that was used to manage the medical response after the collapse of a highway bridge in Minneapolis, Minn. in 2007, can also track patients and help reunite them with relatives.