Swedish health services choose Sepura terminals

Sweden’s nationwide TETRA network, RAKEL, is gradually expanding its number of subscribers, as increasing numbers of organisations seek to realise the security, data and efficiency gains that this technology can bring.  Over recent months, three key Swedish health authorities have chosen Sepura radio terminals as part of the upgrade of their communications systems onto the RAKEL network.  With these three projects, Swedish Radio Service (“SRSAB”), its long-standing and respected partner in Sweden, has extended still further Sepura’s dominance of the market.

In the Skåne region in southern Sweden, the regional health authority has chosen Sepura radios from SRSAB to equip a total of 90 ambulances and 20 hospital centres.  The terminals will be utilised on the RAKEL network and feature not only a twin control head installation of Sepura SRG3500 mobile radios in around 90 vehicles, but also a Sepura STP8000 hand-portable radio for each of the two-person crew.  In addition to supplying a rugged, robust and feature-rich hardware solution, SRSAB will also be carrying out interactive training for key personnel at the authority, which undertook approximately 110,000 emergency call-outs in 2010.

Commenting on the project, Holger Baldauf, the Technology Manager for ambulances in the  Skåne region said "SRSAB is a full-service supplier who is able to provide us a great solution to enable us to work on the RAKEL network.  We will be able to easily exchange experiences with fellow health authorities in our area, as all of the blue-light agencies in southern Sweden are now Sepura users.

The second project involves the Västra Götaland (VGR) region of western Sweden, around Gothenburg.  SRS has won the contract to supply Sepura radio terminals to SOS, an organisation which provides a total turn-key solution, encompassing emergency call management, dispatch and on-board equipment for the region’s c. 100 ambulances.  The project involves around 260 Sepura SRG3500 mobile radios, with the remainder of the 400 radios in the contract accounted for by STP8000 hand portables.

The largest and latest of the projects covers the Stockholm area, where the county council and its ambulance operator have ordered 400 Sepura radio terminals. The supply agreement includes radios for around 100 ambulances and seven hospitals. In addition to having an SRG8000 mobile radio installed, each vehicle will also carry two STP8000 hand portable radios. Dealing with around 180,000 cases per annum, this ambulance organisation is one of the largest in Sweden.  Its RAKEL Project Manager, Eva Fellenius, said “."We are very pleased with our choice of supplier.  SRSAB is a respected supplier which offers excellent support.  They already have considerable experience from implementing Sepura terminals in the VGR and Skåne regions and we look forward to working with SRS, as well as sharing experiences and co-operating closely with our colleagues in these regions.

Lars-Magnus Gustafsson, the Sepura Senior Business Development Manager responsible for the region is justifiably proud of the success; “The combination of Sepura product excellence and SRSAB’s service and support has proved to be a winning combination yet again.  These health authorities have both recognised the security, data and efficiency improvements that can be gained from the RAKEL network and seen that Sepura offers robust terminals which also offer unrivalled functionality.  SRSAB is a key partner for Sepura and they have once more added some important customers to our long list of Swedish projects”

Source: www.sepura.com