Scottish Ambulance Service Invests £3.5 Million in Terrafix Limited Mobile Data Technology

January 2015 saw the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) award Terrafix Limited with the contract to supply Phase 1 of the Ambulance Telehealth Programme, worth £3.5 Million over 5 years.

Terrafix was chosen by competitive tender as the company which best meets the Scottish Ambulance Service requirements for delivery of a robust, reliable state of the art communications solution.

Liam Coughlan, Programme Manager, Scottish Ambulance Service, said:
“The investment in new technology for emergency ambulances will ultimately widen the range of diagnostics that can be performed out of hospital and connect patients to clinical consultations. This will allow the patient to be treated safely in the community, where appropriate, reducing unnecessary admissions and the need for a long journeys to hospital”

The Telehealth Programme is integral to the Scottish Ambulance Service’s strategic framework “Towards 2020: Taking Care to the Patient”, which seeks to improve care for patients by bringing appropriate aspects of urgent or unscheduled care closer to them in their home or local community.

This programme will enable access for the healthcare services within the community; this will be achieved by providing the capability to turn to the ambulance into a communication hub for real-time data sharing and live patient consultation with access to remote healthcare professionals.

Chris Green, Managing Director of Terrafix, said:
“Winning the contract to supply Scottish Ambulance with our revolutionary new T.AGG is a great achievement; we see that it will allow Scottish Ambulance Service to facilitate their vision for 2020, of Taking Care to the Patient. We look forward to 5 exciting years of watching the NHS Scotland vision become a reality.”

The Terrafix solution will provide the communications hub, the Terrafix Aggregator (T.AGG) in the ambulances along with ruggedised tablets in both front and rear, GETAC T800.

Designed, developed and manufactured by Terrafix, the T.AGG is a vehicle based communications management hub with integrated GPS. It can access up to 4 cellular networks for broadband data communications plus an option to interface to any other communications systems such as Satellite or Point to point radio, supplying optimal data aggregation, coverage and bandwidth in the most challenging environments. Coupled with built in dual Wi-Fi and Bluetooth the T.AGG will provide a powerful facility to stream high data dependant applications to and from any Mobile Device.

The solution will use Getac T800’s ruggedised tablets, one for use in the front of the vehicle for Mobilisation and Routing and the other positioned in the rear of the vehicle, but remains portable to be utilised as a method of recording Electronic Patient Report Forms.

Peter Molyneux, President, Getac UK, says “The T800, with its unparalleled connectivity, ruggedisation and portability, fits perfectly into the Terrafix solution.”

The Terrafix solution will be running on over 500 ambulances and emergency vehicles across Scotland and associated islands. Work has already commenced on the contract with connection expected early 2016.