Page 1700 - Week 05 - Thursday, 11 May 2006
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Emergency Services Authority—dispatch system
(Question No 1021)
Mr Pratt asked the Minister for Police and Emergency Services, upon notice, on 29 March 2006:
(1) Is the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system currently operating in all four arms of the Emergency Services Authority (ESA); if not, which arms are not operating CAD;
(2) Why are various arms of the ESA not using the CAD system as outlined in part (1);
(3) Given that it was stated by Mr Wood, the previous Minister for Emergency Services, that the CAD system would be implemented in the four arms of the ESA, why is this now not the case;
(4) If multiple calls are made to Emergency Services for assistance, is it possible that units from multiple arms of the ESA may respond to the same incident without knowledge of other units responding as the CAD system does not operate in all arms of the ESA; if so, why; if not, why not;
(5) Have any Fire Brigade and State Emergency Service units both responded to incidents that could adequately be handled by either unit individually; if so, why has this occurred and why are resources being allocated inefficiently.
Mr Corbell: The answer to the member’s question is as follows:
(1) No. The State Emergency Service and the Rural Fire Service are not using the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system.
(2) CAD is designed to provide centralised control from only one communications centre. For the purposes of operations in remote areas, the Rural Fire Service and the State Emergency Service require the capacity for decentralised control. Additionally, the infrastructure required for CAD in remote areas is very costly.
(3) See response to (2).
(4) No. In the event of a response involving multiple services, a joint operations co-ordinator would be appointed and operational procedures, designed to maximise efficiency of response and operations at such incidents, are adopted.
(5) Yes. This has occasionally occurred in the ACT, however, since the introduction of revised operational procedures in June 2005, such occurrences are rare.
Emergency Services Authority—Fairbairn premises
(Question No 1023)
Mr Pratt asked the Minister for Police and Emergency Services, upon notice, on 29 March 2006:
(1) What is the cost to the ACT Government of the lease of the new Emergency Services Authority (ESA) premises at Fairbairn;
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