Improving Decision Making to Help Save Lives
The Challenge
As a key part of the capital’s emergency services team, the London Ambulance Service provides a fast and effective response unit for public incidents. Historically, its specialised team has worked in relative isolation, without the facilities to communicate quickly with other emergency services.
It needed the capability to receive intelligence from both air and ground faster and more accurately, instead of having to rely solely on voice communication between individuals.
The Solution
Vislink’s technology has transformed the London Ambulance Service’s performance and responsiveness on the ground, while promoting greater unity with the capital’s other key first responders.
Using handheld devices, the team now stays in constant contact with helicopters, airplanes and boats to receive downlink information in real-time. When a critical incident occurs, it can deploy in just 15 minutes and experience the same eyes and ears as those present at the scene.
Vislink’s easy-to-use technology enables effective decision-making on the ground, by recording evidence and providing operational commanders with the full picture, thus enhancing safety for both ambulance staff and the general public.
For example, if someone falls into the River Thames, data is downloaded to the ambulance service’s mobile device directly from the helicopter present at the incident. As the ambulance makes its way to the exact GPS location, its team can see the patient in crystal-clear detail, to establish who they are, where they are, what is happening to them and what condition they’re in – all before arriving.
The team can also learn where the patient may be going next – which jetty or bridge they are heading to. In this way, it can pre-empt resource planning and make subsequent decisions more effectively. What’s more, this approach helps improve the safety of all serving ambulance officers and support teams.
The Result
In a role where every decision must be evidence-based using available information, Vislink cameras and downlink solutions have revolutionised the London Ambulance Service’s capabilities. The equipment plays a central role in every one of its 8,500 annual jobs, and has saved a significant amount of money operationally while promoting greater multi-agency integration.
“Vislink’s downlink unit is an invaluable tool for enabling better decision-making. This unique way of working with the Met Police has been so effective that it will be introduced in other areas of the UK.”
Chris Doyle, Operations Commander, London Ambulance Service
