Corrected entry: It's the very first time they opened the Stargate (Katherine says they've never got past the 6th chevron), and though they tried to study it, they had no clue about what it really is until Daniel properly translated it 2 weeks before the mission (in the series, someone did use the Stargate by accident many years ago, but it doesn't apply for this movie). Yet, not knowing how it works, and having a vague idea about what it does, their system is designed to monitor things like molecular deconstruction that only happens when matters pass through the gate, which they had no idea it would happen. Also, they have a state of the art map of space, that tells exactly what star they dialed, still without ever opening the Stargate or knowing how it works. They did have an idea about its purpose only 2 weeks earlier, which still isn't enough time to design and create something to help monitor a device they know nothing about.
Corrected entry: After the girl is killed, James Spader puts her in the regeneration unit. Just before the lid closes, you can see her eyelid flicker. (01:43:10)
Correction: We are never told that she is dead. She was hit and may just be extremely injured and unconscious, and soon to die, so Jackson is rushing to heal her before she does.
jimba
Correction: They did have an idea as to what the Stargate did before Daniel came on board - Daniel only corrected a previous translation and he didn't change the meaning of the words, only the precise details. Also, the fact that the project is in a military base with military personnel all over the place indicates that they had a good idea of what it was capable of. There was plenty of time to have come up with the monitoring equipment before Daniel came along.