Power outage knocks out Victoria's triple-0 dispatch software for several hours

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A power outage has knocked out Victoria's triple-0 dispatch software overnight. Call centres were still able to take calls, but operators were forced to take notes with pen and paper.

Transcript

00:00We understand that around 12.30 this morning, there was this power outage at the Burwood

00:08000 Victoria call centre, which is in Melbourne's east.

00:12Now that led to an outage of what's known as the computer-aided dispatch system, which

00:18effectively gives the call takers a really good and understanding picture of exactly

00:24where all of the ambulance, micro-paramedics and other emergency services responders are,

00:30as well as to be able to assist in triaging or effectively deciding which cases are of

00:37the highest priority, for example, Code 1 heart attacks and the like, or obstructed airways.

00:43Now, that means that they then had to revert to the old school or pen and paper to take

00:50down some of these details.

00:52And understandably, you can assume that there would be some delays in that as a result,

00:57and also not being able to see effectively where everybody was out in their particular

01:03region at the time.

01:04So that means that in terms of where the ambulances were located, it really left them flying a

01:11bit more blind.

01:12As a result of this outage, there was then a secondary outage that happened within the

01:17software system at both Williams Landing, which is in Melbourne's west, and also Ballarat,

01:23north-west of Melbourne.

01:24Now, this entire outage lasted for three hours.

01:29And the Premier, Jacinta Allen, was asked about this in the press conference this morning.

01:35She says that there is still trust within the system for Victorians at the time that they

01:41need these critical services the most.

01:43This is what she had to say.

01:45I want to thank the hard-working staff at Triple Zero.

01:48They're highly trained in terms of the call-taking and dispatching.

01:52They're also highly trained to respond to situations when they arise, and the advice is that the call-taking

02:00was not interrupted as a result of this power outage because the backup protocols were quickly

02:08enacted.

02:09So that's the Premier, Jacinta Allen, talking about the fact that at least the human side

02:15of the equation, those call-centred takers were highly skilled and knew exactly what to

02:21do in terms of ensuring that the system continued to operate.

02:24So, as far as we've heard, we understand that there weren't any missed calls as a result

02:31of this.

02:32Steph, what other reaction has there been?

02:34Well, we've heard from the ambulance union.

02:37Now, they have said that this inevitably would have put some patients at risk because even

02:42if people were able to get through and speak to people, it wasn't as if it was like one

02:47of those Optus situations that we saw just recently where thousands of calls were blocked

02:54were linked to three deaths to emergency services, this was actually people being able to get

03:01that response from the call-takers.

03:03However, because they would have been with pen and paper, there no doubt were delays and

03:08it would have also made it a lot more difficult for them to be able to most efficiently be able

03:14to dispatch those ambulances to the people who needed it.

03:19And we also know that in these sorts of cases, it's understood that there would have been delays

03:25as a result of them having to use pen and paper instead of that much faster computerised system

03:31that normally operates.

03:33We've also heard from Ambulance Victoria.

03:36Now, they work in conjunction with Triple Zero Victoria, I should say, and they have

03:43said that this is obviously very concerning to them.

03:46They have convened meetings to be able to get to the bottom of this.

03:49The union is talking about the fact that there needs to be a better backup system than the

03:54outdated one that currently is there.

03:57We haven't heard details from Ambulance Victoria about what they think.

04:02However, we've also heard from the opposition here saying that really, questions need to

04:07be asked about exactly how many calls could have been missed because we simply don't know

04:13exactly whether or not that was not the case.

04:16Also, how long these people's treatment were delayed for as a result of this outage.

04:23And obviously, these are going to be some of those questions that need to be answered

04:27by that very thorough investigation that Triple Zero Victoria has promised.

04:33And it should be noted that this comes after a couple of years ago, Triple Services Victoria

04:39actually was rebranded as that name.

04:42That was because there was a damning review into its predecessor, which was called ESTA, or

04:49the Emergency Services Telephone Authority.

04:53And that actually found that there were a whole series of systematic problems within the system,

05:00a lack of people within the system that was actually linked to 12 deaths and some of the

05:05victims' families saying that they would have been better off if they simply put their family

05:10members in the car and drove them to hospital rather than trying to wait for an ambulance.

05:14So, it's not the first time that we've heard about concerns with the Triple Zero system.

05:20But, of course, that massive overhaul and the rebrand that happened two years ago was supposed

05:25to be fixing these very problems.

05:27So, it would be very interesting to find out exactly what this thorough investigation does determine.

05:33is there any additional work?

05:34So, please do this and ask here.

05:36How will you remember?

05:37How do you remember the initial work?

05:38How can you remember it?

05:39How will you remember the initial work?

05:40How will you remember the initial work of the battery in crawling in the 20s?

05:45However, you have some questions when you were going to get it.

05:50What time is the actual work there?

05:54How will you remember the actual work of the battery in this place?

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