The National Ambulance Surveillance System (NASS) is a unique, world-first public health monitoring system that provides comprehensive data on ambulance attendances in Australia. The NASS is a partnership between Turning Point at Monash University and state and territory ambulance services in New South Wales (NSW), Victoria (Vic), Queensland (Qld), Tasmania (Tas), the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and the Northern Territory (NT). The NASS uses ambulance electronic patient care records (ePCR) to code data on attendances relating to alcohol and other drugs (AOD), mental health, and suicide and self-harm for participating states and territories.
The NASS provides valuable information on the extent and nature of suicidal behaviour and self-harm in the community, which complements other national datasets. The NASS data are coded specifically for AOD, mental health, and suicide and self-harm, and capture more detail than the ICD-10-AM coding system used in the National Hospital Morbidity Database and National Mortality Database. The NASS also includes data on incident location and on people who may be missing or underrepresented in national surveys, such as people who are homeless.
While they do not capture all incidents of suicidal and self-harming behaviour in the community, these clinical data from the NASS have the potential to help broaden understanding of these behaviours in Australia and identify opportunities for improved intervention or postvention.
