The response of WA Police to emergency calls has been coordinated with St John WA (SJWA) across the State in a 12-month trial which began at the Police Operations Centre (POC) late last year.
In the 2019-20 financial year, SJWA received 305,900 triple zero calls at its State Operations Centre, while the police recorded 320,689 triple zero calls during the same period.
In a statement, WA Police said many of the calls resulted in police vehicles and ambulances attending the same emergencies, operating in isolation from each other, on different systems, with sometimes different information, different situational awareness and different sources of intelligence.
“The need for real-time information sharing and inter-agency support processes has resulted in the establishment of a SJWA Liaison Officer being located at the POC for 12 hours each day (midday to midnight), seven days a week, under the trial arrangements,” the Police said.
“The three liaison officers are all qualified paramedics with long on-road ambulance experience, and present a wealth of knowledge in support of both St John and police operations,” it said.
Ambulance Paramedic David Robinson said their role within the POC was as a point of contact for enquiries and exchange of information between St John and the police.
Station Officer with 22 years’ experience with St John, Gerard Monks is also a former WA Police officer.
“St John Liaison Officers value-add to computer-aided dispatch in both systems, particularly where the safety of a paramedic and/or police crews may be at risk at certain addresses or locations, or when dealing with particular known individuals,” Mr Monks said.
The third St John Liaison Officer is Liam Joynson, a former police staff member from the Police Assistance Centre.
The three St John Liaison Offers are pictured above.
