TYPE OF SUPPORT
Research Background
Turning Point is Australia’s leading national centre for addiction treatment, training, and research.
Their mission is to transform how society delivers care and support for people affected by addiction.
To support this, Turning Point has developed a new MS SQL-based system to manage ambulance data from across Australian states for the National Ambulance Surveillance System (NASS).
Each state’s ambulance service uses a different data schema, making integration into a unified database complex. Adding to the challenge, these schemas evolve monthly, requiring a dynamic data pipeline that adapts with each new update.
QCIF Role
QCIF is supporting Turning Point in maintaining their legacy databases for the National Ambulance Surveillance System and migrating to the MS SQL system through the development of a data processing pipeline.
Research Outcome & Impact
This project will enable Turning Point to efficiently load ambulance data into their internal database. This database will be used as part of the National Ambulance Surveillance System, which forms part of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s National Suicide and Self-harm Monitoring System.
The database will enable timely insights to help support Australia in reducing rates of self-harm and suicide.
By streamlining the way ambulance data is processed and integrated, this project strengthens Turning Point’s capacity to deliver timely, evidence-based insights. It represents an important step in advancing efforts to support mental health and reduce self-harm throughout Australia.
Joanna Salerno, Data Scientist, QCIF
