14 DAY TRIAL // The computer system coordinating ambulances in three New South Wales regions was offline for more than 24 hours following a malware outbreak.
Dispatchers were forced to revert back to the old pen and paper-based method that hasn't been used in over ten years since the computer-assisted system was put in place.
"There's been a complete failure of the computer aided dispatch system that allows ambulances to respond, sometimes to critically ill patients," NSW Opposition Health Spokesperson Jillian Skinner told ZDNet Australia.
The virus hit the system at around 1 pm local time on Saturday, forcing IT technicians to shut it down and initiate manual cleaning procedures.
However, the time it took for all computers to be cleaned exceeded the expectations of the NSW Ambulance Service's management.
"It has been a long time coming back online," the service's general manager Mike Willis said, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
"That's regrettable. But I'll say we wouldn't allow the system to be turned back on until our technicians cleaned every workstation," he added.
Fortunately, according to Willis, no lives were put at risk because of the downtime and there were no delays in responses to triple-zero calls.
The malware responsible for the incident and the source of infection have not been revealed, but NSW Health Minister Carmel Tebbutt said Sunday that a full inquiry will be launched into the matter.
Meanwhile, the opposition criticized the lack of backups for such a critical system. This incident is just the latest on a long list of cases where important systems had to be shut down because of malware.
We previously reported that Manchester City Council was left unable to process tax bills or issue bus lane tickets after the Conficker worm infected its systems. The total loses, including clean-up costs, added up to $2.45 million.
An worm outbreak on the City of Houston computer network forced the Municipal Court to shut down and the police department to limit the number of arrests.
Other institutions that had to battle virus infections on their networks include UK Parliament, the UK Royal Navy, the US Army, the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior and the New Zealand Health Ministry.