South Australian Ambulance Service (SAAS)

• GRN Talkgroups
• Ambulance Service Frequencies
• St John Frequencies
• Hospital Frequencies

The S.A. Ambulance Service (SAAS) uses the S.A. Government Radio Network (SAGRN) for all metro and most regional communications. A purpose built communications centre was opened in December 2003 at the S.A. Ambulance headquarters building in Eastwood, the centre has been equipped with state of the art technology to facilitate the transition from the previous VHF radio network to the SAGRN.

SA Ambulance service dispatch console

Ambulances are fitted with a MCS 2000 mobile GRN radio and two ATS 2500 portable radios. In vehicle repeaters will soon be installed to increase portable radio coverage for crews operating in the field. VHF radios remain in all vehicles to serve as a backup should the GRN fail.

The communication centre has been fitted out with fourteen Motorola Centracom consoles, nine are used for dispatch and five are in a separate training / special operations room. From the console the operator can access radio and telephone functions as well as logging vehicle movements and taking emergency telephone calls. Some of the dispatch desks have electric raise and lower capabilities for increased operator comfort.

All communications for the state are now handled through the Adelaide communications centre. Previously regional communications centers handled their own radio traffic, however the Riverland communications facility was closed in November 2002, the Mount Gambier centre in December 2003, and the North West comcen closed on December 10th 2004.

A number of talkgroups are used for dispatching emergency and non emergency taskings, as well as hospital consults and helicopter retrievals. During the day the metropolitan area is split into a North / South arrangement with vehicles north of the Torrens river operating on talkgroup 02 METRO NTH, vehicles south of the Torrens operate on 03 METRO STH, during the evening the two talkgroups are patched together and all vehicles are handled by the one dispatcher. The metropolitan ambulance transfer service (ATS – non emergency transfers) are tasked on talkgroup 14 METRO ATS.

Country ambulances operating south of the city across to the Riverland and down to the South East of the state operate on talkgroup 71 SE TASK 1. Ambulances north of  Gawler and in the western areas of the state are coordinated on 81 NW TASK 1. Talkgroup 72 SE TASK 2 which was previously used for central country operations is no longer in use.

The S.A. Ambulance service is also responsible for the coordination and dispatch of the state rescue helicopters, they operate on talkgroup 51 HELICOP TRK, they also have allocated to them SAAS simplex channel 52 HELICOP SPX (411.975 mhz) and VHF marine channel 88 (157.425 mhz) for situations where close range communications are required.

Dispatch

When a call is taken by the call taker in the communications centre the details are placed into the computer and sent to the dispatch operator, they then find the closest ambulance available and contact them either by radio if they are on the road or by telephone or GRN pager if they are at an ambulance station. If they are contacted by phone a brief outline of the job is given and full details are relayed by radio when they call up on air from the ambulance.

All calls for assistance made to the ambulance service are categorized according their nature and priority, the category placed on each tasking is relayed to the ambulance crew as the job is given out over the radio advising them of the urgency of the call.

Callsigns

Vehicle call signs are assigned at the start of a shift, generally call signs consist of the name of the station the crew is from followed by a number identifying their start time and another number designating their vehicle status. An 0700 starting emergency shift from Marion station would have the call sign Marion 71, an 1800 starting shift from Mitcham would be Mitcham 181. An ATS crew from Noarlunga starting at 0700 would be Noarlunga 77.

The last number in the call sign identifies what type of ambulance the crew have.

Other call signs heard are:

SAAS Infection Control Precautions and Cleaning

Often abbreviated on the radio to P1 - L1
 

Precautions:
P1  Contact
P2  Contact, Droplet, Eye
P3  Contact, Droplet, Eye, Non Pregnant
P4  Contact, Droplet, Eye, Airborne
P5  Contact, Droplet, Eye, Airborne, Immunity
P6  Droplet, Eye
P7  Contact, Immunity
P8  Airborne
P9  Droplet, Eye, Airborne

Cleaning:
Level 1  Use detergent and water to clean stretcher and all surfaces in ambulance touched by patient or crew.
Level 2  Use detergent and water the appropriate disinfectant solution to clean stretcher and all surfaces in ambulance touched by patient or crew.
Level 3  Use detergent and water to clean stretcher and all surfaces in ambulance.
Level 4  Air ambulance and use detergent and water to clean stretcher and all surfaces in ambulance.
Level 5  Air ambulance and use detergent and water then appropriate disinfectant solution to clean stretcher and all surfaces in ambulance
 

Paging

The S.A. Ambulance service uses the SAGRN paging system extensively for notifying all personnel of taskings. Generally crews are paged with the category and location of a job and then call up on radio for more information. The on-call volunteers carry a pager and can remain at home and only need to respond to the ambulance station when paged, some of the busier volunteer stations (Goolwa, Mallala, Mt Pleasant etc) do however often remain at the station until called.