NSW ambulance computers coming back online

No lives in danger and all 000 calls were answered despite shutdown, says senior managers

Computers which co-ordinate NSW's ambulances are back online in three of the state's regions after a major virus forced staff to shut them down for more than 24 hours.

The virus crept into the Ambulance Service of NSW's dispatch system at 1pm (AEDT) on Saturday, prompting staff to co-ordinate paramedics by telephone and handwritten notes.

Despite the shutdown, senior managers say no lives were put in danger and all triple-zero calls were answered.

By Monday morning, computers in three of four ambulance control centres were back online - in Sydney, and the state's north and west.

The state's south was expected to be back online later in the morning, a statement from the ambulance service said.

Its general manager Mike Willis said the time it took to fix the problem was "regrettable".

"It has been a long time coming back online," he told Fairfax Radio Network on Monday morning.

"That's regrettable. But I'll say we wouldn't allow the system to be turned back on until our technicians cleaned every workstation."

The cause and source of the virus was still not known, he said.

An investigation is underway, now that the technicians could switch their attention from solving the pressing online problems.

NSW Health Minister Carmel Tebbutt on Sunday said an inquiry would begin once the whole system was back online.

The state opposition called the shutdown a "complete failure" of the computer system, saying it could have cost lives.

More about: etwork, NSW Health

Comments

1

Frank Daley

Mon 14/02/2011 - 14:27

Which is why security experts recommend not having a PC monoculture and why products such as Google Chrome Operating System will succeed in the enterprise.

2

andrew.dean

Mon 14/02/2011 - 16:15

How many share in google do you have Frank?

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