Hollywood has trained most of us to envision what happens during an epidemic. We see the first case of a disease, which seems innocuous to the people in the film. Then it spreads with increasing velocity, until it almost outpaces or completely overwhelms the systems in place to prevent it.

In real life, however, disease control experts have fended off quite a few potentially disastrous contagious diseases — often with cutting-edge technology at their disposal.

As humankind continues to face inevitable outbreaks like the current Ebola epidemic in West Africa, technology will play an increasingly important role in prevention. The problem is that people in rural areas and the developing world still lack many of the tools to stop epidemics before they spread. How organizations and governments use technology to deal with diseases in all types of locations will largely determine their success rates.

One tool, the geographic information system (GIS), has shown great potential for providing real-time information regarding the spread of a disease. By using smartphones and other monitors (such as satellite Internet where necessary) to keep track of people's movements, health officials can collate information and examine the big data provided to construct a picture of how a disease is spreading, pinpointing hot spots and infection vectors.

Additionally, better mapping of where people and animals come into contact can also help officials predict where new hot spots might crop up. Using this data, healthcare professionals are able to make more educated decisions about who might pose a health risk given their symptoms and travel history. In turn, doctors will know who to consider for quarantine and who to send home with confidence.

Electronic healthcare record systems represent another systems integration step that can aid in the detection of developing trends. National health databases, when crosschecked with travel records and individual symptoms, can give doctors the information they need to detect patients at risk.

More efficient feedback from doctors will inform the system, creating a feedback loop and a clearer picture of what is actually happening. Some have even proposed using the record system to keep track of people who have come in contact with infected individuals as a further method of prevention.

Some organizations have deployed more disease-specific programs, such as the MEEDS app, which helps monitor malaria in a region. With MEEDS, or the Malaria Early Epidemic Detection System, doctors and health workers can instantly report new cases of malaria to a centralized database.

Local doctors then use their local knowledge to make house visits. These visits have allowed health officials in Zanzibar to identify many unreported cases and follow up on known cases. GPS data ensures that health workers across the system can continue regular monitoring. With this system, health officials can identify a new outbreak in a matter of weeks.

On more of a futuristic level, robots might soon play a role in stopping outbreaks. Many are already familiar with robots being used to defuse bombs. These robots don't measure up to an actual walking, talking humanoid machine, but they do get the job done.

Similarly, some companies offer machines that can aid in cleaning up possibly infected areas, burying dead victims of disease or removing dangerous biohazards. Other robots specialize in using UV rays to disinfect quarantine areas, such as the one used below during the recent Ebola cases in Dallas. Though much of this technology seems a little distant right now, robots will eventually come into their own and remove humans from dangerous situations entirely.

Places all over the world have already reaped benefits from websites and apps that allow people to communicate from remote areas and coordinate responses. Instead of smoldering doubt and fear, communities can take proactive steps against the disease in question.

The faster the information gets out, the earlier people can create a prevention plan. And, as we have seen in past epidemics, time saved means lives saved.