Fujitsu has completed rolling out the first phase of a new dispatch service for Tasmania’s emergency services, with the new system being employed by the state’s police force.
Fujitsu in 2016 was awarded the contract to implement the new Emergency Services Computer Aided Dispatch (ESCAD) system for Tasmania’s Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management.
ESCAD is replacing non-integrated dispatch systems across a number of agencies including Tasmanian Fire, Ambulance Tasmania, State Emergency Services (SES), and Tasmania Police.
A common dispatch system for emergency services was recommended by a state government inquiry into the 2013 Tasmanian bushfires.
“[T]he Emergency Services Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) project, would also assist with interoperability and greater efficiency in emergency communications,” the report said.
TASPOL’s Command and Control system was originally rolled out in 1989.
“There are support issues for the current system and it is operating on aged technology,” the report noted.
“TFS operates under a different CAD system which does not have the same difficulties as the TASPOL system, but Ambulance Tasmania may need replacement technology.”
The new system allows police to track the status and location of resources, Fujitsu said, as well as conduct post-incident analysis of responses to emergencies.
Ambulance Tasmania will begin using the new system this year. All the state’s emergency services are expected to be using it by April 2018.