Medical staff track thieves by satellite

By nhorner

THIEVES in Sutton and Erdington have been warned they will be tracked and caught if they target vital electronic ambulance equipment.

West Midlands Ambulance Service said updates in technology meant the vast majority of its equipment in its vehicles could now be traced using a satellite-based global positioning system (GPS).

Joe Garcia, regional head of IT communication systems, said: "GPS technology means that if electronic equipment is stolen it can be tracked immediately and indefinitely by Emergency Operations Centre staff, which is relayed directly to the police.

"Some of the technology is so advanced that it doesn't matter if the thief turns off the equipment, it can still be tracked and even listened to remotely.

"We are even exploring technology that allows us to tag equipment with a hidden chip that can be detected by proximity, similar to the tags used to deter thieves in department stores."

In a recent incident in Sparkhill, a mobile phone was stolen while an ambulance crew was responding to a 999 call from a residential property.

They alerted the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) staff in Brierley Hill, who called police and began tracking the stolen device. The thieves were traced to Digbeth Market near the Bullring Shopping Centre.

Then the market's security team was dispatched to the area, where the culprits were apprehended and the stolen device recovered.

Mr Garcia said: "Ambulances are unfortunately also sometimes targeted by thieves for satellite navigation equipment which is actually rendered useless once removed.

"This new technology now means that the culprits can be apprehended quickly, and also more importantly the essential equipment can be recovered and reinstalled as soon as possible, ensuring that the emergency vehicle can continue to respond to emergency calls."