FOI 25-166 Mobile Phones in Emergency Situations
Freedom of Information Request
- Reference
- FOI 25-166 Mobile Phones in Emergency Situations
- Request Date
- 08 Apr 2025
- Response Date
- 17 Apr 2025
- Information Requested
Has the mobile phone protocol been revoked so that ambulance crews can be effective in emergency situations ? Did such a ban on mobile phone use in an emergency situation ever exist at all on 13th Dec 2020? I was told the protocol was that crews could not use a mobile phone to contact patients but it was not made clear if such a protocol extended to emergency situations. I would like this concern to be clearly and openly answered. That is the situation on 13th Dec 2020 and the situation now
- Response
The Scottish Ambulance Service has never utilised a mobile phone protocol where crews would contact a patient directly, even in emergency situations. The protocol has always been that, in any type of incident, the crew would contact the Ambulance Control Centre (ACC) through an airwaves radio and the ACC would contact the patient. The airwaves radio and ACC systems allow for each patient contact to be recorded and tracked and allow for escalation plans to be put in place where required. These vital communication details may be lost when made from a mobile phone.
We acknowledge your reference to a particular incident in your original request. The Scottish Ambulance Service cannot make comment on individual incidents through Freedom of Information requests. Releasing information under FOISA allows this information to be accessed publicly, therefore, under Freedom of Information Scotland Act 2002, section 38 1(b), personal information would be exempt from release.
