By Cecilia Nasmith
Northumberland Paramedics have been informed that the third-party platform the service uses to record patient data has been taken off-line by the provider in response to a potential cyber incident.
The announcement stressed that this service interruption does not affect their ability to respond to 911 emergency calls and, thus far, there is no evidence that any confidential information has been compromised or that there is a risk to local IT systems,
It also said that this situation is currently affecting many paramedic services across Ontario.
The affected platform is operated by ESO, which took immediate steps to take the system off-line at the first sign of unauthorized access. ESO is working with appropriate authorities and cybersecurity experts to resolve the matter, and also working with paramedic services to provide interim solutions.
“Our priority as we manage this disruption is, as always, to ensure high-quality and seamless emergency patient care, and to protect the health information of our patients,” Northumberland Paramedics Chief Susan Brown said in the bulletin.
“While this is an administrative challenge, the community can be assured that we continue to respond to 911 calls and transfer patients to hospital.”
Updates will be shared as they become available.
