Computer Virus Shuts Down CAD Computers

Officials of the New South Wales (Australia) ambulance service say that all four of their comm centers are back on-line after a virus infected the computer-aided dispatch system used to handle incidents. Officials did not say how the virus was introduced into the systems, including the center that handles Sydney, or which strain was involved. The first symptoms were noted Saturday afternoon, and dispatchers began handling incidents with pen and paper and dispatching by telephone. Officials said that no incidents were adversely affected by the outage while technicians swept the computers to remove the virus. However, some political officials are questioning how the computer infection occurred and if any lives were put in danger. The ambulance service’s paramedics have recently been protesting staffing cutbacks, and complain of bullying and intimidation by supervisors. They also complain that computer prioritization of incidents is inefficient, and frequently makes mistakes that puts lives in danger.