NSW Ambulance staff have praised the May 2022 launch of their new Computer Assisted Dispatch (CAD) system, upgraded in partnership with eHealth NSW. A mission critical service used to log emergency Triple Zero (000) calls and dispatch ambulances to patients, it provides vital infrastructure.
Enabling timely and appropriate responses to the 3,500 requests for emergency medical care it receives, on average, each day, the solution is crucial for NSW Ambulance, and patient care in NSW.
Working in partnership with NSW Ambulance, eHealth NSW recently upgraded this stable and supportable platform, housed in NSW government data centres.
Focusing on the needs of paramedics and control centre operators, system enhancements targeted clinical assessment, compliance, mapping, routing, prioritisation, and accuracy of ambulance dispatch.
Updates to the clinical question and answer pathways (ProQA) will ensure the assessment and triage of a patient’s condition is as accurate as possible. Improvements to patient geolocation, address points and points of interest, and improved mapping functionality, also support better routing of ambulances to incidents.
The complex upgrade comprised more than 60 components in just one data centre, involved almost 100 staff from both organisations as well as a team of 14 separate vendors. The upgrade was managed through a Technical Command Centre located at eHealth NSW offices in Chatswood, and an Operational Command Centre located at NSW Ambulance’s Sydney Control Centre.
More than 1300 test cases and seven separate rehearsals took place before the successful implementation on Sunday 1 May, with over 600 staff trained to utilise the new solution. Congratulations to all involved.
