Me congratulating Carlos Neves, president of SRPCBA, during the EENA 2017 112 Awards Ceremony.
With more than 2,300 km2 located in the center of the Atlantic Ocean and 250,000 inhabitants spread over nine volcanic islands, the autonomous region of the Azores, one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal, has suffered from deep disparities in access to health care and coordination of emergency response.
The need to provide a better and efficient emergency assistance required that the Regional Civil Protection and Fire Services of Azores – SRPCBA (Serviço Regional de Proteção Civil e Bombeiros dos Açores) implement a centralized dispatching system for EMS, fire, and civil protection.
The solution provided by Hexagon Safety & Infrastructure improves Azores’ emergency dispatch and response capabilities and uses the industry-leading software Intergraph Computer-Aided Dispatch (I/CAD), along with a triage application (IPT/Triage), which is based on Manchester Telephony Medical Triage Protocols. SRPCBA has been a Hexagon customer since 2011.
“With the integrated call taking and dispatching system, SRPCBA has improved the management of emergency and non-emergency calls across Azores archipelago, allowing its population to receive the right care at the right time and at the right place”, says Carlos Neves, president of SRPCBA.
Today at the European Emergency Number Association (EENA) Conference in Budapest, Hungary, the Azores Model, as it is known, received the Remarkable Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) Achievement Award during the conference’s 112 Awards Ceremony.
Recognition at this level in Europe shows that Azores is at the forefront of innovation in the area of public safety and security.
Watch this video about the Regional Civil Protection and Fire Services of Azores.