The National Ambulance Service (NAS) is rolling out Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) units in their ambulances. These units, which use Eircodes, display the caller’s location for the ambulance crew. It’s similar to having the control room in the ambulance at their fingertips. The control room dispatch system is configured to use Eircodes. When a member of the public dials 999 or 112, the Emergency Call Taker and Emergency Medical Dispatcher swiftly pinpoint the caller’s location, with the help of the Eircode. The details of the call, including the address, Eircode, and location of the caller is quickly sent from the control room to the in-ambulance MDT. The ambulance crew acknowledge the call via the MDT and “go mobile”. The location, address and Eircode is displayed on a map on the MDT. The MDT helps the ambulance crew to get to the caller’s location as quickly as possible using MDT directions both visually on a map and audibly in the ambulance.
Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Denis Naughten TD, said; “The use of Eircode by the National Ambulance Service underpins the role of Eircode in getting essential services to our citizens. Eircode is instrumental in allowing a critically important emergency service to operate at its best. In recent research it was found that 84% of people across the country can give the Eircode for their address. This Eircode awareness, combined with the launch of the National Ambulance Service in-ambulance Mobile Data Terminal units will enable an ambulance to quickly and accurately be routed to someone in need of medical help.”
35% of addresses in Ireland are non-unique but Eircodes are unique. Non-unique addresses have caused significant operational challenges for the NAS in the past but Eircode have helped solve this challenge.
Minister for Health, Simon Harris TD said; “The National Ambulance Service is a critically important emergency service and Eircode helps it to do its job better, when finding and getting to addresses. Eircodes helps provide a caller’s location and a speedy response when calling for an ambulance. The in-ambulance Mobile Data Terminal units are a fantastic addition to our service and help ambulance crews perform to the best of their abilities, when their vital skills are under the highest levels of stress and time is of the essence.”
The in-ambulance MDTs are currently operational in Cork and Kerry and will be rolled out throughout the country over the next few years.
Karen Dwyer, Operations Director, Eircode, said: “We are very pleased that an organisation as essential as the National Ambulance Service is utilising the Eircode system to help improve service delivery. This is exactly the type of purpose that Eircode is designed to fulfil and the more it continues to perform to make life simple and straightforward for Irish citizens, the better.”
Since its launch in July 2015, Eircode usage, as part of an address, continues to grow and Eircodes are used widely among the public, businesses and the public sector. The free to use Eircode Finder, https://finder.eircode.ie/#/ is an online app that both public and businesses use to find Eircodes for addresses and to get directions to address locations. The Eircode Finder has proved very popular with the public with over 22.2 million searches since its launch in 2015. On average, the finder is visited 33,000 per day this year.
For more information on the National Ambulance Service visit www.nationalambulanceservice.ie