Mid West ambulances get state-of-the-art 5G communication upgrades

• St John WA (SJWA) partnered with Waitsia Gas Field joint venture partners Mitsui E&P Australia (MEPAU) and Beach Energy to deliver an Ambulance Communications Upgrade Initiative in the Mid West,
• The $117,000 initiative delivered 5G compatible smartphones and Wi-Fi technology to 18 ambulances across the Mid West,
• SJWA responded to 9258 emergency ambulance calls in the Mid West and Gascoyne region last financial year.

St John WA’s Mid West ambulances have successfully converted to 5G technology thanks to an Ambulance Communications Upgrade Initiative with Mitsui E&P Australia (MEPAU) and joint venturer Beach Energy.

The $117,000 initiative rolled out the latest 5G compatible smartphones and Wi-Fi technology to 18 ambulances ahead of Australia’s 5G network expansion to the region.

The Ambulance Communications Upgrade Initiative launched in May last year aims to future-proof state-of-the-art cellular telecommunication connections, ranging from 3G to 5G, in Geraldton and surrounding Mid West sub centres.

As a not-for-profit, SJWA relies on funding partners like MEPAU and Beach Energy to further build and strengthen its emergency service infrastructure for regional communities.

SJWA responded to 9258 emergency ambulance calls in the Mid West and Gascoyne last financial year and relies on stable telecommunication network activity across cellular, satellite and radio channels when called to some of the most remote parts of the state in an emergency.

MEPAU Managing Director and CEO Ken Yamamura welcomed the completion of the rollout as part of its broader commitment to delivering benefits to the communities where they operate.

“By funding a communications system upgrade for every single ambulance in the Mid West, every ambulance will maintain reliable and continuous communication when responding to an emergency incident,” he said.

“This supports hard-working St John volunteers and paramedics to focus on what matters most – providing life saving services for the Mid West community.”

Beach Energy CEO Brett Woods said health and safety were at the heart of their joint-venture operations.

“We believe that strong safety systems deliver life-saving outcomes – and that’s why we partnered with St John WA,” Mr Woods said.  

“An effective ambulance service with a reliable communications system will improve health, safety, and wellbeing outcomes for all of the Mid West community including Mitsui E&P Australia and Beach Energy employees and contractors.”

St John WA Group CEO Kevin Brown said the rollout had been a welcome success and wonderful cost saving to volunteer sub centres in the region.

“We are working with other regional sub centres to switch to 5G as Telstra moves towards turning off its 3G network as part of our state-wide charitable commitment to closing the gap in health in rural and remote areas,” Mr Brown said.

“We have rolled out 5G Samsung X5 mobile phones to every country sub centre to ensure our regional response team is reliably connected to our State Operations Centre while providing the best possible out-of-hospital care.”

Mitsui E&P Australia (MEPAU) is a WA-based energy provider and the operator of the Waitsia Gas Field, with three gas-producing facilities in the Mid West.

MEPAU and its Waitsia joint venturer Beach Energy support the local community by partnering with organisations or local not-for-profit groups to provide better services for locally driven initiatives.

St John has 160 locations across regional Western Australia, which includes 140 volunteer response locations and 20 sub centres with a mix of volunteer ambulance officers and career paramedics who work side-by-side.

To learn more about partnering with St John WA visit the website.