IT change after 999 staff revert to pen and paper
The ambulance service has replaced its computer system after chronic problems forced staff to revert to pen and paper to take down details of 999 calls.
Glitches in the decade-old technology also meant there were issues pinpointing the location of defibrillators and on one occasion a call handler was unable to provide an access code for one of the devices while someone was suffering a fatal cardiac arrest.
There were further problems with the on-board systems in ambulances, including mapping software meaning paramedics sometimes had to use their phones for directions.
Following the issues, South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SECAmb) decided to invest in a new Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system, which was rolled out at its Coxheath control room last Wednesday.
The trust refused to reveal the cost of the system, used to manage and deploy front-line resources. The previous one had not been replaced in more than 10 years and in one six-month period last year, power cuts were reported on a weekly basis.
Joe Garcia, SECAmb executive director of operations, said: “We’re really pleased to be introducing a new and dynamic CAD system which will be of huge benefit to the staff and ultimately the patients we provide a service to.
“It represents another positive step forward for the trust.”
The organisation has assured people the technology will be able to accurately identify the location of public access defibrillators, overcoming the problems of the previous software.
A review into those problems found there was no evidence any patient had been harmed by difficulties accessing one of the devices, which can be used to shock the heart back to a normal rhythm, but acknowledged it was difficult to assess the effect a defibrillator would have had.
Their use has been proved to help in less than a quarter of cardiac arrest cases and it is often impossible to identify if the patient is having a cardiac arrest, or has collapsed for another reason.
The trust said the issues around defibrillators was a material factor in replacing its IT.