St John WA (SJWA), renowned for its extensive geographical coverage as the world’s largest ambulance service, has embarked on the implementation of the cutting-edge Omnicore Enterprise Dispatch system by Omnitronics. The system is presently operational within the State Operations Centre and throughout the Metropolitan Operations.
Selected and installed by SJWA towards the end of 2023, this advanced dispatch system significantly bolsters their communication infrastructure. With over 236,000 hours contributed by volunteers, SJWA delivers exemplary emergency medical services to the inhabitants of Western Australia, with the Omnicore Enterprise Dispatch system underpinning the pivotal importance of technological solutions in providing efficient and effective emergency services to communities.
This charitable organisation tirelessly serves the community, day and night, through 17 distinct services and 196 ambulance sites spread across the vast 2.5 million km² territory of the State.
Since the inaugural Omnitronics dispatch system was set up in 2008, there has been a continuous effort to adopt the latest and most sophisticated dispatch technologies available. Their third system from Omnitronics, the Omnicore Enterprise Dispatch, became operational towards the end of 2023 and is supported by virtual machines, with the primary server located in Belmont and a secondary backup facility 26km distant in Wangara, Western Australia.
All Metropolitan and Country Channels utilise Tait base stations through the DFSI or 4-Wire E&M interfaces, while a highly reliable omniGateP25 gateway cluster facilitates access to Push-to-Talk over Satellite for the most isolated locations. This ensures that ambulances in remote areas have access to multiple communication avenues based on priority, including radio channels, 4G networks, or satellite links.
Ray Pullen, the Radio Communications Manager at St John WA, expressed satisfaction with the ongoing partnership, stating, “As a longstanding client, we are happy that Omnitronics have once again provided us with the latest cutting-edge radio dispatch technology and support us in communicating with both local and remote sites from our centralised operations centres.”
Furthermore, a bespoke CAD interface for Omnicore Dispatch has been developed to transmit alerts and messages containing CAD job dispatch details directly to the paramedics’ radios, ensuring that no assignment is overlooked when the paramedics are away from the in-vehicle CAD terminals. The system also incorporates a voice recorder for added functionality.
John Jordan, CEO of Omnitronics, commented on the collaboration, saying, “The capability to provide custom engineered functionalities for our dispatch systems gives users like St John WA the opportunity to design a system to their specific organisational requirements. We are pleased to be able to offer them exactly what they need, so they can focus on their mission: Saving Lives.”
