DGT to upgrade radio communications system for the National Emergency Medical Services

The new communications system developed and delivered by DGT Sp. z o.o. [Ltd] is designed to integrate, within a single hardware platform, all the so far used means of conventional and digital radio communications as well as newly acquired means of communication. 

The digital radio communications system is based on a remote system to control digital and analogue telephones linked by an IP network. The radio telephones have been installed at locations providing radio coverage of the area served by the concentrated dispatch centres of the National Emergency Medical Services located in Gdańsk and Słupsk.

The purpose of launching the system is to provide communication with the assigned emergency medical teams in the Pomeranian Province.

As a result of the works, a new radio communications infrastructure has been built, including 20 complete sets of antenna installations and 20 radio controllers serving radio telephones of the National Emergency Medical Services. Each controller supports two radio systems independently, without any interference. The device has a built-in switch, it also performs the radio server, e-mail logger and IP PBX functions. Therefore, if needed, users will be able to take advantage of new functionalities. The radio controllers have been installed at local government locations in the entire province.

To connect with the medical emergency rescue teams, the dispatcher has just to select the appropriate radio station in the district or to make a direct call using the radio station identification number.
At the present time, the communications system comprises of

• Thirteen dispatch consoles with software that had already been used in the Pomeranian Province Office
• A communication node located in the concentrated dispatch centre - serving the dispatching consoles and radio controllers of remote and local radio base stations;
• 40 remote radio base stations at twenty 20 locations.

When building the system it was assumed that its future development by fifty subsequent base radio stations at a minimum should be taken into account.

An additional goal of this project was to provide radio communication with the Air Medical Services in the Pomeranian Province. As two radio telephones have been installed at the radio locations, it is possible to dedicate one radio telephone to communication with the field teams of the National Emergency Medical Services, and the other telephone to communicate with the Air Medical Services.
A characteristic feature of the newly developed communications system is the fact that the dispatch consoles allow the dispatcher to receive calls at 999 as part of the Public-Safety Answering Point system. Dispatch consoles are a part of the Integrated Communication Subsystem of the Public-Safety Answering Point and are attached to the same Communication Servers as the consoles of number 112 operators.

A total of 296 dispatch consoles have been set up in 44 Medical Dispatch Centres for the needs of dispatchers of the National Emergency Medical Services. In addition to the dispatch consoles, access stations were also supplied on which the SWD PRM [Command Support System of the National Emergency Medical Services] application supporting the call recording process has been launched. The information entered by an operator of 112 at an earlier time appears in the SWD PRM application automatically, which substantially accelerates the process of processing the call - the medical dispatcher does not have to duplicate these steps any longer, but can proceed with the medical interview immediately. Moreover, the dispatcher can see the caller’s location on a map from the SWD PRM level. The integration of the SWD PRM and the Integrated Communication Subsystem using a specialized programme interface provides full synchronization of forms with data and
telephone calls - the call is always routed to the console where the form was opened or the form is directed to the console where the call was received.

The entire process to launch the receipt of emergency calls at 999 in Medical Dispatching Centres under the Integrated Communication Subsystem is scheduled for 2016.

It is worth noting that the offer of DGT included an in house developed cost-effective and efficient software integration of TETRA, DMR, EDACS, GSM + ANALOG systems.