Page 3613 - Week 11 - Thursday, 16 November 2006
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The system provides mobile units installed in ESA assets, predominantly vehicles, to provide a vehicle locating and general purpose messaging service back to the headquarters at Curtin, which can interface directly with the ESA CAD system. The FireLink system is now fully operational and was successfully used during the recent fire in the Namadgi national park.
Both the SES and the RFS now rely on FireLink to provide automatic vehicle location, status and dispatch capability through the Vision CAD interface. Comcen operators now have total visibility of FireLink-equipped vehicles on the same screen as CAD. These initiatives have ensured that our emergency services are better able to manage their response and also communicate far better than they have been able to in the past.
Moving on to equipment supplied to each of the services, the ACT Ambulance Service has received eight new intensive care ambulances in recent years, as well as a new operational support vehicle. These new ambulances have new livery, enhancing their visibility in both wet and dry conditions at daytime or night-time, leading to a safer response.
Members may have seen that a member of the ACT Ambulance Service recently received an award for this project in the ACT’s occupational health and safety awards, attesting to the importance of high-visibility emergency vehicles and the regard with which that is considered within the safety sector. That is not a silly little OH&S reason, as indicated by Mr Pratt.
As well as vehicles, the government has provided funding for the provision of new equipment. The ACT Ambulance Service has recently undertaken a replacement program for patient care stretchers in all of their ambulances as well as the replacement of cardiac monitors and defibrillators carried on all emergency ambulance vehicles. In fact, most of the points that Mr Pratt raised in his diatribe were answered in question time yesterday by Mr Corbell. He talked about overtime for ambulance officers and he talked about their vehicles. It appears that Mr Pratt either does not listen or chooses not to hear the facts when they are actually delivered to him. I think he concentrates a wee too much on page 3 of most publications and very rarely gets past the table of contents. If he went past the table of contents and into the substance of a report he might well make more sense, although I very seriously doubt it.
MADAM TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: Relevance, Mr Hargreaves.
MR HARGREAVES: I take your point, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. Mr Pratt is not very relevant to it and I take your point very much so.
MADAM TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: Stick to the matter of public importance.
MR HARGREAVES: In recent years the ACT Fire Brigade has seen an increase in its capability. Along with the provision of fire pumpers as part of a replacement program, we have seen additional vehicles, such as the four compressed air foam system, CAFS, tankers. I remember Mr Pratt coming out and congratulating us on the
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