Information Security Management
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA
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Student Name (Print clearly)
UniSAEmail ID
1.Gauri
gauyy003@mymail.unisa.edu.au
2.Santhiya Rani Vijaykumar
vijsy003@mymail.unisa.edu.au
3.Darusalam
daryy002@mymail.unisa.edu.au
Yayny001 @mymail.unisa.edu.au
4.NadiahYayao
5.TawandaChifamba
chity006@mymail.unisa.edu.au
6.Paul Campbell
campy002@mymail.unisa.edu.au
Course code and title: INFS 3070/5055 – Information Security Management (M)
Program Code:
School: CIS
Day, Time & Location of Tutorial/Practical: Tuesday/ 1:00 PM/ F1-24 (MLK)
Course Coordinator: Helen Lee Ashman
Tutor:
Extension granted (Yes/No):No
Due Date: August 22nd 2011
Assignment number &topic: Deliverable week 4
We declare that the work contained in this assignment is our own, except where acknowledgement of sources is made.
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Note: The attachment of this statement on any electronically submitted assignments will be deemed to have the same authority as a
signed statement.
Signed:
Date:
1.Gauri
August 22nd 2011
2.Santhiya Rani Vijaykumar
August 22nd 2011
3.Darusalam
August 22nd 2011
4.NadiahYayao
August 22nd 2011
5.TawandaChifamba
August 22nd 2011
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Information Security Management
August 22nd 2011
6.Paul Campbell
Date received from student
Recorded:
Assessment/grade
Assessed by:
Dispatched:
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Table of Contents
Preliminary Information.................................................................................................................................. 4
1. Background ............................................................................................................................................... 6
2. Core functions ........................................................................................................................................ 8
2.1 AVL (Automatic Vehicle Location) System .......................................................................................... 8
2.2 Electrical Medical Equipment ............................................................................................................. 9
2.3 Government Radio Network (GRN) ............................................................................................. 9
2.4 Vehicle and Crew Dispatch ................................................................................................................ 10
2.5 Call Handling and Dispatching Systems .......................................................................................... 11
2.6 Mobile Data Terminal ....................................................................................................................... 12
3. Support Functions ................................................................................................................................... 13
3.1 ePCR (Electronic Patient care record) System ............................................................................... 13
3.2 AIMS System (Ambulance Information Management Solutions System) ....................................... 14
3.3 Payroll System ................................................................................................................................. 14
3.4 Telecommunications .......................................................................................................................... 15
3.5 Account Payable System ................................................................................................................... 15
3.6 CCTV ................................................................................................................................................. 15
4. Integration ................................................................................................................................................ 16
5. Security .................................................................................................................................................... 17
6. REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................ 18
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Preliminary Information
Name
Contact Made
Task
Researched on:
TawandaChifamba

Attended group meeting

E-mail
1. Mobile
Data
Terminal
2. Call
handling
and
dispatching system
Researched on:
NadiahYayao
(Sumbit

Attended group meeting

E-mail
1. Electrical
Medical
Equipment System /
the
Core System
Delivarable)
2. Aims
System
/
support system
Paul Campbell

Attended group meeting

E-mail
Researched on:
1. SACAD system
2. Telecommunications
VijaykumarSanthiya

E-mail
Rani
Researched on:
1. CCTV
2.
Account
payable
System
Darusalam

Attended group meeting
(Minutes Taker)

E-mail
Researched on:
1. GRN / Core System
2.
Payroll
System
Support system
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/
Information Security Management
Gauri

Attended group meeting

E-mail
(Chairperson)
Researched on:
1. Automatic
vehicle
Location
(AVL)
System
/
core
system
2. ePCR
(Electronic
Patient care record)
System
/
support
system
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1. Background
The South Australia Ambulance service (SAAS) is the principle provider of ambulance
services in South Australia. It provides emergency medical assistance, treatment and
transport, non – urgent patient transport and highly – quality care to the people of South
Australia. As an integral part of South Australia’s Health System, SAAS is committed to
save lives, reduce suffering and enhance the quality of life. In doing so, SAAS uses
information Technology to operate efficiently and fulfill its commitments.
In order to function properly, the ambulance service requires core systems which when
not available, human life could be endangered. These systems include, Automatic
Vehicle Locator (AVL), Mobile Data Terminal (MDT), Government Radio Network
(GRN), Call Handling and Dispatching Systems and Electro Medical Equipment. Apart
from that, the service requires support systems which smooth out crew operations and
facilitate the way things are done. These support systems include Accounting systems,
Closed Circuit Television cameras (CCTV) and Ambulance Information Management
Solutions System (AIMS).
Figure 1 reflects the core and support systems used by SAAS.
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MDTTelecommunication
s
AVL
GRN
Emergency
call services
Electro
medical
Equipments
SCADA
Account
Payable system
Payroll system
Ambulance
AIMS System
ePcR
system
CCTV
Figure 1: The South Australian Ambulance Services (Department of Transportation 2007)
In Figure 1 above, the systems in red color are core systems and the systems in blue
color are support systems.
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2.
Core functions
The core functions of The South Australia Ambulance service (SAAS)
comprises of AVL (Automatic Vehicle Location) System, Electrical Medical
Equipment, Government Radio Network (GRN), SACAD system, and Mobile
Data Terminal.
2.1 AVL (Automatic Vehicle Location) System
System Description
Automation vehicle location is a means of determining the geographic location of
a vehicle and transmitting the information to a point where it can be used. South
Australia Ambulance service (SAA) introduced an Automatic Vehicle Location
(AVL) system in SAAS vehicles to improve response efficiencies and resource
utilization (White 2010).
System Benefits
By introducing AVL systems SAAS will be able to perform number of functions:

The location of all the ambulance resources can be easily identified at any
time;

This will provide better information to SAAS and enable a more targeted
dispatch of the ambulance resources and thus results in improvement in repose
times;

AVL systems works with GPS satellites to determine a vehicle’s location,
after tracking the ambulance location the information is then transmitted from the
receiver inside of the vehicle to its destination.
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2.2 Electrical Medical Equipment
In medical locations one of the main considerations is the safety of patients and
medical personnel, especially nowadays where there is a wide use of electrical
equipment in all aspects of cosmetic or medical treatment, monitoring and diagnosis.
This applies not only to hospitals but also numerous other types of medical services like
ambulance service. All medical equipment itself must be covered by specific standards
and can have parts which require physical or electrical contact with the patient in order
for the equipment to function correctly.
There are several larger pieces of medical equipment required in ambulance:
 Portable and fixed suction apparatus with a regulator
 Portable and fixed oxygen supply equipment capable of metered flow with
adequate tubing, portable battery operated defibrillator
 Pulse oximeter with pediatric and adult probes
 Blood pressure meter
2.3 Government Radio Network (GRN)
South Australian Ambulances Services (SAAS) uses the S.A Government
Radio Network (SAGRN) for all metro and most regional communications.
From 2003, it has been transitioning from VHF radio network to the
SAGRN. Ambulances are now fitted with an MCS 2000 mobile GRN radio
and two ATS 2500 portable radios. As part of the transition, in vehicle
repeaters will soon be installed to increase portable radio coverage for
crews operating in the field. For security issues (availability), VHF radios
remain in all vehicles to serve as a backup should the GRN fail.
When using the radio, a call is taken by the call taker i n the
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communications centre; details are placed into the computer and sent to
the dispatch operator who will then find the closest ambulance available
and contact them either by radio if they are on the road or GRN pager if
they are at an ambulance station.
SAGRN paging system is being used extensively by the SA ambulance
services for notifying all personnel of tasks. The crew is paged with the
category and location of the job and then call up on radio for more
information. However, with the introduction of MDTs, they are probably
less radio conversations since the crew receives the full case on screen.
South Australia at all area emergency services and semi government
agencies use GRN, this network has more than 200 radio sites that
connect each other to form a data, voice and paging network that cover
approximately 96% of the population of South Australia and over than
220,000 sq. kilometres of landmass.
The approximately 14,000 mobile
voice user, 500 Mobile data terminal and 16,000 paging users link to th e
network. By using trunk-tracking capable scanner is allow seeing
transmissions on the network from all users around the state.
2.4 Vehicle and Crew Dispatch
Australian State Ambulance services provide emergency medical treatment,
assistance and transport services to local community members.
In an attempt to achieve the best utilization of human and vehicle resources for
emergency medical response, the SAAS will be implementing the South Australian
Computer Aided Dispatch (SACAD) system in mid-2011 (Creen 2010, pg. 21).
SACAD is a Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) system developed by Intergraph
(Wegener, 2011), that will provide SAAS Emergency Medical Dispatch Support
Officers
(EMDSOs)
and
Emergency
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Dispatchers
(EMDs)
with
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‘recommendation of matching the best resources to an emergency, … inter agency
communication and sharing of information across agencies and jurisdictions’ (Marz
S 2009) and provide full visibility of an emergency event through use of maps and
GPS location tools (Intergraph 2011).
2.5 Call Handling and Dispatching Systems
Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) plays a vital role in the South Australian
health system as it is often the first point of contact patients have with the ambulance
service. This center receives all triple zero calls for emergency ambulance assistance in
South Australia. Triple zero (000) is the primary national emergency number in
Australia. The emergency Call Service is operated by Telstra corporation Limited and is
intended only for use in life – threatening or time critical emergencies (Volunteer
Gateway 2011). Calling triple zero connects the caller to a Telstra operator who will then
connect the caller to the emergency service organization call taker (EOC in this case).
With the caller information transferred upon answering the call, highly trained
staff in the Emergency Operations Centre will then query the caller for the relevant
details and dispatch an ambulance. The EOC operators handle and organize all
transport requests received by South Australian Ambulance Services (SAAS) including
emergency, urgent and routine journeys. They also coordinate the use of ambulance
resources across the state and manage rescue operations in collaboration with health
and emergency service colleagues (Kalika, Arbon& Jones 2010).
The EOC operators use the Computer Aided Call Handling system (CACH) for
managing calls through the use of computer based algorithms in order to make
consistent and objective decisions on actions to be taken thereby, ensuring a consistent
service delivery. The computer software can provide scripting, prompts or interactive
questioning to assist the call handler in gathering information (enotes 2011).
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The call handling software is linked to the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD),
which is a system for dispatching emergency services with the aid of a computer. It can
either be used to send messages to the crew via MDT and /or used to store and retrieve
data (radio logs, filed interviews, client information, schedules etc.). The CAD system
may send text messages with call-for-service details to alphanumeric pagers or wireless
telephony text services like SMS; the idea being that a person in the dispatch center will
be able to easily view and understand the status of all units being dispatched (Turk
2005).
CACH & CAD system (Turk 2005)
2.6 Mobile Data Terminal
MDTs are computerized devices used in public transit vehicles including
ambulances to communicate with a central dispatch office. They are connected
wirelessly to a central computer, usually at the control center. They can function instead
of or alongside two way radios as part of the various peripherals that can be connected
to them. MDTs are used to pass details of jobs to the crew, and can log the time the
crew was mobile to a patient, arrived, and left scene. Ambulance crew update their
status on the MDT and this information is fed back to the CAD system thereby, ensuring
timely each – way communication with reduced need for voice radio. MDTs are also
used to display mapping and information relevant to the tasks and actions performed by
the ambulance such as CAD drawings; diagrams and safety information. They receive
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full details of cases from the CAD system.
Mobile Data Terminal (Google images 2011)
3. Support Functions
There are support functions needed in South Australia Ambulance service
(SAAS) such as ePCR (Electronic Patient care record) System, AIMS System, Payroll
System, Telecommunications, System Emergency Call and Account Payable System.
3.1 ePCR (Electronic Patient care record) System
System Description
ePCR aims at replacing paper based notes across Australia (Creen 2008).
System Benefits
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This system has number of benefits with respect to patient, emergency call service
agency and the hospital personnel as described below:

It has more extensive and detailed documentation which ensures that all the
reliable information is stored including the billing description;

Well formatted report which increase the readability and understanding;

The database complied is quickly available and readily usable by EMS agency for
internal quality assurance audits.
3.2 AIMS System (Ambulance Information Management
Solutions System)
AIMS is a system and services that manage the operations of ambulance
companies from dispatch to billing, including crew, fleet, subscriptions and advanced
reporting. With AIMS, it will streamline the whole billing and accounts receivable process
with time-saving features that make bill transmission, reporting and payment posting
efficient. AIMS also record staffs’ personnel and objectively evaluate their performance.
Information on call volume, certification status, equipment issued and more is only a
click way. AIMS help eliminate surprises related to repair and maintenance of
ambulance. Complete records on service history, scheduled maintenance, fuel
consumption and equipment repairs make budgeting easier and fleets more reliable.
3.3 Payroll System
This system allows the clients to pay the services they used and also used for
paid the employee for services they provided during period of time. According to the
SA ambulance services there are some way to pay their services such as, over the
phone, pay in person, pay by Bpay and mail.
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3.4 Telecommunications
Public telecommunication networks play a crucial role in supporting the SAAS CI.
Many Direct Support devices rely on these networks, such as mobile telephones,
satellite telephones, wireless devices, GPS tracking systems and the new SACAD
system.
Telstra provide a crucial link between community members in need of emergency help
and the SAAS. Telstra provides this link by being the first point of contact for a Triple
Zero (000) call and then forwarding the person to the requested emergency service
(Stefan 2010).
3.5 Account Payable System
The medical equipment’s, security devices etc., that are present in an ambulance
are purchased from different vendors hence it is essential to make sure that they have
credit to make payments and purchase inventories in a timely manner. All these are
possible only with the help of an account payable system.
This system is responsible for verifying invoices and requisitions for goods and
services, enter data in invoices for payment, list all vendor cheques, maintain the ledger,
generate financial reports, maintains a list of accounts payable, backs up data after
entry and generates a record of all patient’s transactions.
3.6CCTV
In order to provide best, secure services to patients, in addition to the
equipment’s that are used for treatment, ambulances are fitted with CCTV.
CCTV stands for Closed Circuit Television Camera, which are used to monitor
and record images of what is happening in real time. As part of the crime prevention
programme the Australian government has taken the initiative to introduce CCTV in
many places.
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These CCTV’s are used in ambulances to record the activity either inside or
outside of the vehicle. This serves as a form of evidence in case of violence against
ambulance crew or in some case to prove cases in which the crew is accused of
malpractice.
4. Integration
All the systems are integrated to each other in some way. With respect to patient
the first pint of contact is emergency call system which means dialing 000 for an
ambulance. This system is integrated with the SCADA SYSTEM which is a dispatch
system and dispatches everything on the bases of nature of call. The electro medical
equipmentconsists of all the medical equipment which is critical for the patient. When
the vehicle is on its way then all the systems are connected to each other through MDT
(mobile data terminals) or Government radio network (GRN). All these activities are
being monitored in the CCTV camera. All the support systems are very important for the
smooth running of all core functions.
Computer Aided Call handling system (CACH) is integrated with the CAD system
such that information from (CACH) is passed directly to CAD. This could mean
dispatching services which are not part of the ambulance control center can be done
automatically like dispatching police to a violent incident, without the requirement to
involve a further operator (Wikipedia 2011). The CAD is integrated with MDT to facilitate
2way communication when the ambulance crew update their status via the MDT and
receive cases from the CAD system (Turk 2005). The MDT is integrated with the two
way radio system. Some of the possible integration of the CAD, MDT and CACH
systems are depicted in the diagram below.
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Possible elements of CAD system (Wikipedia 2011)
5. Security
Call Aided Dispatch system (CAD) information is generally considered
confidential for investigative reasons, privacy of victims and witnesses, and in some
cases, to comply with state laws. This software provides a flexible method of assigning
security levels for all the various types of information, the various CAD functions and all
users. This then allows the administrator to specifically assign access permissions to
every user, limiting them to what functions they are allowed to perform, and what
information they are allowed to see (pro security zone 2011). With the use of MDTs,
scanners cannot listen on MDT based digital dialog since radio transmissions are more
secure. MDTs uses a secure software application which provides a single logon to back
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end systems via the server. The officer’s identification and password is required during
the log on process and in some cases a security token will be required for log on
operation. The screen can be blacked out by a single key press or automatically after a
time period and a personal PIN or password will be required to restore the screen
display (pro security zone 2011).
6. REFERENCES
White, J. 2010, SA Ambulance services Annual Report 2009-2010.
Creen, R. 2008, SA Ambulance services: Defining the road ahead.
Department of Transportation 2007, Automatic Vehicle Location Rural Transit.
Creen R2010, SA Ambulance Service: Annual Report 2009-10, SA Ambulance Service, viewed
17 August 2011,
http://www.saambulance.com.au/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=hN0LidYBntU%3d&tabid=122
Integraph 2011, Incident Management, Integraph Corporation Part of Hexagon Group, viewed 19
August 2011, http://www.intergraph.com/publicsafety/cad.aspx
Marz S. Integraph VP addresses issues facing call takers, 911 centers. [Interview –
http://urgentcomm.com/podcast/marz-call-takers-911-center-issues-20090505] with M R
Roberts. 5th May 2009.
Stefan A 2010, Public Safety and Security: A network-centric approach to community safety in
Australia, Telstra Corporation, viewed 19 August 2011,
http://www.telstraenterprise.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/Whitepapers/Public%20Safety%20an
a%20Security%20white%20paper.pdf
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Wegener J. Systems integration with SACAD. [Interview - Verbal] MatrixGroup Head Office,
Adelaide with P Campbell. 18th August 2011.
Government of South Australia 2009, ‘ SA Government Radio Network’, viewed 20 August
2011, <http://www.sa.gov.au/government/entity/432>
South Australian Scan Marketing, ‘SAcan’, Viewed 20 August 2011,
<http://www.sascan.net.au/?page=infPages/infAmbulance>
Pay my bill 1997, “SA ambulance service’, viewed 20 Ausgust 2011,
<http://www.saambulance.com.au/ProductsServices/PayMyBill.aspx>
A Handbook for workplaces, ‘Prevention and management of aggression in health services’,
December
2009,
viewed
19
August
2011,
<http://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/worksae/PDF/Guides/Aggression_in_health_web.pdf>
Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) in Public Places, ‘NSW Government Policy Statement and
Guidelines for the establishment and implementation of CCTV’, viewed 19 August 2011,
<http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/cpd/ll_cpd.nsf/vwfiles/cctv.pdf/$file/cctv.pdf >
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