Department of Health

Standardised Emergency Number project

The Standardised Emergency Number (SEN) project is an important safety initiative.

Victorian hospitals now have a common emergency number for patient medical emergencies - 22 22.

22 22 has been implemented as the standard emergency number in public health services, private and day hospitals and urgent care centres that use an internal emergency number to activate an internal emergency response. Facilities that use triple zero, without an internal emergency number, are not part of this program.

53 of 54 of the public health services, and 52 (of 61) of private hospitals, transitioned to the standardised emergency number.

Dr Phillipa Hore chaired the program steering committee. Dr Hore is an anaesthetist at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, and past chair of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) Safety and Quality Committee.

Standardising the in-hospital emergency number improves staff recall, reduces the likelihood of a time delay to an emergency, and improves patient safety.

It is supported by the:

  • Australian Resuscitation Council
  • Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists
  • Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society
  • Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care
  • Victorian Branch of the Australian Medical Association.

For further information about the project, or to register for an information session, please contact the department's Digital Health branch via SEN@health.vic.gov.au

Reviewed 28 July 2023

Health.vic

Contact us

Digital Health

50 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000
sen@health.vic.gov.au
Was this page helpful?