Virus takes down NSW Ambulance computers

Stan Beer
Monday, 14 February 2011 07:21

IT Policy - Government Tech Policy

A computer virus that forced the entire Ambulance Service of NSW to shut down its automated operations could put lives at risk despite statements to the contrary by the state Government. This was the claim of the NSW state opposition after the glitch surfaced over the weekend.

At the time of writing there has been no word that the computer systems are back and the Ambulance Service has been forced to dispatch emergency calls via the triple zero phone system manually using paper based methods.

To date there has been no word as to the nature of the virus or how it breached the security of the system. The NSW state Government, which is in election mode and already has its back to wall has promised a full enquiry after the system comes back online.

According to multiple reports from media outlets, both the general manager of Ambulance of NSW and the Health Minister Carmel Tebbutt have denied that any lives have been put at risk to date and stressed that ambulances were still being dispatched manually.

However, there has been no information provided as to what effect if any that reverting to manual operations has in terms of time delays and potential for error in dispatching ambulances and coordinating staff for emergency calls.

The opposition shadow health minister Jillian Skinner has said the computer shutdown had the potential to cost lives of patients that are critically ill.