The South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) serves a population of over seven million people in the UK, answering 500,000+ urgent calls a year. Following a comprehensive technology review, SCAS replaced its fleet of aging field devices with 450 Getac UX10-IP fully rugged tablets.
Challenge (Summary)
The South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) serves a population of over seven million people in the UK, answering 500,000+ urgent calls a year. The unpredictable nature of callouts means ambulance crews must be ready for every eventuality, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To do this, they need an on-board digital solution they can rely on to perform in demanding conditions, enabling them to gather crucial information and deliver appropriate treatment both safely and effectively.
Solution (Summary)
Following a comprehensive technology review, SCAS replaced its fleet of aging field devices with 450 Getac UX10-IP fully rugged tablets and HAVIS secure docking stations. The UX10-IP’s powerful connectivity features and large 10.1” FHD LumiBond® 2.0 touch screen display makes data collection quick and easy, while a purpose built design, including fully sealed buttons, means the device can be thoroughly disinfected after every callout.
Benefits (Summary)
With the Getac UX10-IP and HAVIS docks installed in the back of each ambulance, personnel can remotely access Electronic Patient Care Records (ePCRs) directly from the scene, giving them all the information they need to deliver fast, accurate care each time. Furthermore, SCAS opted to extend Getac’s standard three year bumper-to-bumper warranty to five years, meaning personnel can take the devices wherever they need to go with complete peace of mind.
Challenge
SCAS provides a range of emergency, urgent care, and non-emergency healthcare services to over seven million people across central and southern England, operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As part of this, it answers over 500,000 urgent calls every year, taking its ambulance crews to a diverse range of locations and scenarios, from late night city centre incidents, to sporting accidents in remote rural areas. Every time a call comes in, crews must be ready for anything, which means they need equipment they can rely on, regardless of the situation faced.
A key part of this is how they gather medical information on-scene, check patient records, communicate with colleagues, and identify suitable treatments. Like many NHS Trusts, SCAS has digitally transformed its ambulance operations in recent years, which means all these tasks are now handled using on-board digital solutions. However, the demanding nature of many urgent and emergency callouts means consumer grade, non-rugged devices simply aren’t suitable because they can quickly break if knocked, dropped, or used in adverse weather conditions for extended periods.
Finally – and crucially – SCAS ambulance crews also need devices they can easily disinfect in the field between callouts without fear of damage or failure.
Solution
Following a comprehensive technology review, SCAS identified a combination of Getac’s UX10-IP tablets and HAVIS secure docking stations as the ideal digital solution to replace its ageing legacy devices.
Featuring a fully rugged design and 10.1'' FHD LumiBond® 2.0 display with sunlight readable technology (1,000 nits), the UX10-IP can be taken wherever ambulance crews need to go. A tablet hard handle makes it exceptionally portable, while the high capacity battery delivers full shift reliability. Elsewhere, the UX10-IP boasts exceptional connectivity options, including Intel® Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth (v5.1) and optional 4G LTE mobile broadband with integrated GPSvi, giving crews remote access to electronic patient care records (ePCRs) and other critical information at all times.
The UX10-IP’s specialist design also features fully sealed buttons, which makes disinfecting the device extremely quick and easy. Not only does this help to maximise patient safety, but the ability to disinfect devices on the go means ambulances crews can move onto the next callout much faster than would otherwise be possible.
The addition of HAVIS secure docks in each ambulance means the UX10-IPs can be safely stored and charged while the vehicles are in transit, then detached and carried into the field as needed.
Results
SCAS now has 450 UX10-IP tablets and HAVIS docks installed in its fleet of ambulances, helping crews deliver fast, safe medical services across the region.
“Getac’s UX10-IP fully rugged tablets give our ambulance crews access to the crucial patient information they need, regardless of the location, weather conditions, or time of day,” says Jason Somerville, Head of ICT Clinical Communications & Telemetry at SCAS. “Their purpose built, sealed-button design also means they can be quickly disinfected in the field, enabling crews to move on to the next case without unnecessary downtime – something that’s been particularly valuable throughout the COVID-19 pandemic”.
SCAS also opted to extend Getac’s award winning bumper-to-bumper warranty from three to five years, providing additional peace of mind when using the devices in the field. Getac’s warranty includes accidental damage as standard, meaning that in the unlikely event of breakage or failure, the device will be repaired and returned in a matter of days, preventing unanticipated downtime, and keeping all SCAS’s ambulance on the road, where they belong.
ABOUT SCAS
South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust employs more than 4,500 staff, who, together with over 1,100 volunteers, provide a range of emergency, urgent care, and non-emergency healthcare services to over seven million people 24/7.
The Trust delivers most of these services to the populations of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, and Oxfordshire as well as non-emergency patient transport services in Surrey and Sussex.
SCAS has headquarters in Bicester, Oxfordshire and Otterbourne, Hampshire. Both sites also house a Clinical Co-ordination Centre, where 999 and NHS 111 calls are received, clinical advice provided, and emergency vehicles dispatched if needed.
