VACIS Technology

The Victorian Ambulance Clinical Information System (VACIS) is the most sophisticated, integrated ambulance information system in the world. It allows paramedics to record patient information electronically, collects data from all patient records and paves the way for research to further enhance ambulance performance.

When assisting a patient, paramedics make a record of symptoms and other patient details, as well as treatment they have given, on a tablet PC running VACIS software. They may record information by using the keyboard, touch pad or writing on the screen with a ‘pen’: the software has handwriting recognition.

The information from hundreds of thousands of patients is collected in a data warehouse and then analysed. This will support:

• training paramedics
• reviewing clinical standards
• pre-hospital research
• designing services for the future

VACIS is the only computer system in the world that matches the logical processes followed by paramedics. It is also the only system designed to support information sharing with hospitals. The Queensland Ambulance Service has implemented the system while all other states in Australia (excluding Western Australia) are working collaboratively to support the introduction and development of VACIS and are in various stages of implementation.