Reference no: EM133527219

"London's Deadly Glitch"

Assume you are the head of the department that implemented the new ambulance system. You have just been emailed the article, "London's Deadly Glitch" which has just been released. It is presented below. You expect the media to arrive in fifteen minutes with questions. What three questions would you like answered by your subordinates before you talk to the media? Don't ask why the "H" wasn't I informed of this. You are focused on responding ethically and intelligently to the media. Later you will deal with your employees potentially "hiding" information from you.

London's Deadly Glitch

London's Ambulance Service was jolted last week by a serious glitch in a new computer-based dispatch system that swamped the organization's control center, disoriented ambulance teams, left emergency patients waiting up to three hours for help, and may have resulted in as many as 20 deaths.

It was a complete nightmare says an Ambulance Service spokesman in London.

The new computer-aided dispatch system is based on control room hardware from Apricot Computers, software from Systems Ops, vehicle location equipment from the data trak subsidiary security company Securicor, and mobile data terminals from Solo Electronics.

When emergency calls are received, the operator enters the details into the system, which initiates a series of verifications such as the caller's address. The system identifies the nearest ambulance and sends the request to a mobile device in that vehicle. The crew must then acknowledge initial departure, arrival at the hospital, and final clearance. A series of warning signals or exception messages are repeated at regular intervals.

The system performed acceptably during the early stages of installation and was running in working pilots across London's three ambulance divisions.

When the service tried to integrate those three divisional systems last Monday-a day in which there was an incidental 25% increase in calls-the system mysteriously began producing a mass of exception messages. The staff reined in the problem by Monday night, but it resurfaced. On Tuesday the control room reverted to an older system.

Officials of the UK's National Union of Public Employees charge delayed responses could have been a contributing factor in 20 deaths and called for a formal inquiry. By late last week, the British government had launched inquiry and the service's CEO, John Wilby, had resigned.