Computer Aided Dispatch

The Metropolitan Ambulance Service has led Australia in the implementation of computer aided dispatch and call-taking systems and now boasts one of the most technologically advanced communications systems in the world.

MAS introduced a computer aided dispatch system in August 1995. The Victorian Government agency Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority (ESTA) now provides the communications function for Metropolitan Ambulance Service, Victoria Police, Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board, Country Fire Authority and State Emergency Service in an integrated system. To ensure consistently high performance, MAS specifies performance measures for time to answer the 000 emergency calls and time to dispatch ambulance resources.