Page 1590 - Week 05 - Thursday, 7 April 2005

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I am advised no staff member has been forced to resign amid allegations of sexual assault of young patients at The Canberra Hospital.

Emergency services—communications
(Question No 208)

Mrs Dunne asked the Minister for Police and Emergency Services, upon notice, on 17 February 2005:

(1) Were there any disruptions or incidents within the Emergency Services Authority Headquarters (ESAH) on the afternoon of Thursday, 13 January 2005; if so, (a) what are the details and (b) at what time did they occur;

(2) Was there any disruption to (a) radio and (b) telephone communications between the Emergency Services Communications Centre (ESCC) and Emergency Services personnel, operational or otherwise that were on duty or ‘stood up’, on Thursday, 13 January 2005; if so, what, if any, units, appliances and personnel were uncontactable;

(3) What protocols are to be observed amongst Emergency Services personnel in the event of disruption to, or failure of, the communications network;

(4) Was there any disruption to the standard way in which 000 calls could be received by Emergency Services on Thursday, 13 January 2005;

(5) Was the automated system detailing the location of ACT residents who called 000 affected; if so, what was the nature and extent of this;

(6) If an ACT resident dialled 000 on Thursday, 13 January 2005, but due to the nature of their emergency was unable to speak, would the operator taking the call have been able to determine the location of the caller;

(7) If there system was affected, was it possible to re-route 000 calls to the Police (Winchester) Communications Centre; if so, did this occur; if not, why was this the case;

(8) If it was possible to re-route 000 calls to the Winchester Centre, would that centre have had a functioning automated system detailing the location of 000 callers to its operators;

(9) Was there any disruption to electronic, computerised or automated dispatch or data systems at the ESCC; if so, what was the nature and extent of the disruption;

(10) What effect, if any, did the disruption to any of these systems have on the overall operational effectiveness of the ESCC;

(11) Could the ESCC be certain about the location of all the Rural Fire Service and Urban Fire Brigade units in the ACT, to the same degree of certainty that it would normally hold on any other given day of high bushfire readiness;

(12) Was information about the location of all the Rural Fire Service and Urban Fire Brigade units in the ACT readily available to the ESCC radio dispatches or the duty coordinator at all times on Thursday, 13 January 2005; if not, why not;


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