Disturbing 999 call in Cork

Blackbolt191

DrMorphine wrote: »

Most people from Cork would know exactly where the caller was describing, and every emergency service operator should 100% know or not have the job.

Do you know the name and location of every street in every townland, town and city in Ireland? No one does not to mention there are so many repeated its an impossibility.

It almost seems like the operator needs a location on a gps system and then that it sent to a gps in the fire brigade before they are allowed to leave the station from reading it, which obviously should not be the case.

As previously stated we do not have GPS.

If any of the firefighters were told the location they would know.

And how was the controller supposed to know which fire station to contact

Wouldn't someone else be working with the operator on the phone to give instructions elsewhere?

No

The Emergency call system is not as great as people seem to think, they can only work off the information received. There is no use blaming the controller, instead blame the system they have to work with and as for calling for someones job because they do not know the name of every street in Ireland , I dont think I need to comment on that.

String

ratracer wrote: »

Most people from Cork would, but emergency fire calls for the Munster region are handled through the Munster Regional Fire Control centre which is located in Limerick. The operator would take the call and then dispatch the relevant fire station. The operator would not know 100% of all locations in the country, that would be impossible. The problem lies with the system and not the call taker.

I have never had to use emergency services myself, but now its probably easier for me to just ring local Garda instead and let them ring them for me. Response time is obviously going to be slow from a central location, there should be an operators in each county.. Could just situate them in a fire station or Garda building ffs.

String

Blackbolt191 wrote: »

The Emergency call system is not as great as people seem to think, they can only work off the information received. There is no use blaming the controller, instead blame the system they have to work with and as for calling for someones job because they do not know the name of every street in Ireland , I dont think I need to comment on that.

I'm talking about this particular case, which could of saved a life

Blackbolt191

DrMorphine wrote: »

So we have to rely on GPS which doesn't work for a lot of Ireland? I have never had to use emergency services myself, but now its probably easier for me to just ring local Garda instead and let them ring them for me. Response time is obviously going to be slow from a central location, there should be an operators in each county.. Could just situate them in a fire station or Garda building ffs.

No, the vast majority or the emergency services do not have access to GPS, every county used to have their own control but that was done away with years ago, I think Cork fire were one of the last to go to CAMP a few years ago.

Blackbolt191

DrMorphine wrote: »

I'm talking about this particular case, which could of saved a life

And what about the rest of the calls received where the same kind of thing happens , this is not an isolated case by any means, this one is just getting publicity.

Bang Bang

Some interesting posts here, one even calling the call takers "moronic robots", now that is charming, do Boards have a policy on verbal abuse!

As sad as this is the fact remains that the location given was 'incorrect' by name so the call taker is going to have difficulty pinpointing the location on the mapping system. However as soon as the general location is given, i.e.; Cork city centre then the mobilisation of crews is immediate, this is done by the dispatcher whilst the call taker is still gathering information. The system still requires a lock on the location so the call taker will aim to gather this as well as other information AND give out advice like running cardiac arrests over the phone. Now who was it that stated these people are "moronic robots":roll eyes:

Although the National Ambulance Service is receiving much bad publicity regarding waiting times there are the many other tales that go unmentioned. The call takers and dispatchers do a tough job and often go that extra mile to get a resource to somebody whilst working on poor location information. A dispatcher in the Dublin control won an international award two years ago after coordinating an out of country successful rescue.

ratracer

DrMorphine wrote: »

So we have to rely on GPS which doesn't work for a lot of Ireland? I have never had to use emergency services myself, but now its probably easier for me to just ring local Garda instead and let them ring them for me. Response time is obviously going to be slow from a central location, there should be an operators in each county.. Could just situate them in a fire station or Garda building ffs.

That was the case until 6-7 years ago. Each Garda, Fire or Ambulance district HQ would take calls for its area. So, for example, if you dialled 999 the operator would ask which service and which part of the country and direct you to the appropriate HQ. Now, the call centres have been centralised and when you ring 999/112, someone from BT will answer, ask you which service and put you through to a regional control centre for that service. In the fire service, the control centres are located in either Dublin ( still operated by Dublin Fire Brigade for now), Limerick for the Munster region, or castlebar in Mayo for the Connaught region. Both of these centres are operated/answered by civilian call takers working off prompt cards/screens. Modernisation for you huh??

Also, it is inaccurate to say we can rely on GPS, we cannot. The caller will have to give visual landmarks and directions to where they want the emergency services to attend.

ratracer

pwurple wrote: »

I agree the system is useless. But in all fairness, I'm from Cork and I'd have some idea where Grafton street is in Dublin, or O'Connell street. This wasn't some back of beyonds spot, it's Cork's main thoroughfare. Patrick's street. Smack bang center of the city.

I would know where Grafton Street is also, but I wouldn't know which fire station would repond to it. Also, what if the controller sent the fire brigade out to the wrong location, or even the wrong bank of the river, would that not be just as 'incompetent' as some have made out (not you btw..)

SpaceTime

ratracer wrote: »

I would agree with this 100%, BUT, this whole thread has come from the FaceBook account of someone who witnessed what for him was a very traumatic event. The actual recording of the call may well have been very different and I would be reluctant to criticise the call taker without hearing the original call.

The person making the Facebook post should make contact with ComReg themselves.
This should be fully investigated.

Thoie

DrMorphine wrote: »

I'm talking about this particular case, which could of saved a life

To be honest, having pulled someone out of the Lee myself many years ago (which still haunts me), if the guy disappeared during the space of that phone call, the emergency services may not have arrived on time even if the address had been recognised immediately. The river moves fast at the best of times, and with a run on the river, and if the tide was on the way out, the victim's best hopes would have been for someone to throw him a life buoy (which are situated all along the river), and hang on to the other end until help arrived.

kub

mitosis wrote: »

When did this happen? There is nothing on the news about a drowning in Cork.

Phibsboro wrote: »

I can't find anything in any of the papers/news sites about this. Is this supposed to have happened in the recent flooding?

dave1982 wrote: »

http://www.thejournal.ie/search-man-rive-lee-cork-1307510-Feb2014/

I woke up at approx 07:45 on Sunday morning to the sound of a helicopter flying over my house. I suspected that it was the Coast Guard so i switched on my laptop and went to http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/

I spotted the helicopter on it and then tracked it to discover that it had been searching up and down the River Lee most of Sunday morning after been dispatched from Waterford at 05:30.

Of course i switched on the RTE Radio 1 08:00 News and there was no mention of an incident, neither was there on any other subsequent hourly news reports.
But then of course we are used to this carry on down here, God knows if it was in The Capital it would have been on the news as soon as the helicopter was airborne out of Dublin airport.

What i suspect about this whole incident are the words 'cut backs'. I have a good friend in Cork City Fire Brigade and I remember him telling me years ago that if someone picked up a phone as a prank and announced the there was a Fire on Main Street, that every Fire service that had a Main Street in that call takers area would have to be dispatched.
Obviously now the accountants are in charge.

Locust

Sorry i don't know if this was mentioned already - too tired to read all posts....

Caller - i dunno where we are
Me - Do you have an Iphone
Caller - yeah
Me - Go to the compass app..
Caller - ok
Me - Read me out the grid cooridinates on the bottom there
I type that into google maps I know where you are - boom

Worked for me loads of times
Handy as a lot of people have iphones etc... im sure other phones have similar feature.

Thoie

Locust wrote: »

Sorry i don't know if this was mentioned already - too tired to read all posts....

Caller - i dunno where we are
Me - Do you have an Iphone
Caller - yeah
Me - Go to the compass app..
Caller - ok
Me - Read me out the grid cooridinates on the bottom there
I type that into google maps I know where you are - boom

Worked for me loads of times
Handy as a lot of people have iphones etc... im sure other phones have similar feature.

You're obviously more on the ball than some people. I left the GPS coordinates of our front gate in my parents house, due to the fact that someone there was ill, and it's a pita to find. At one point they did have to call an ambulance - they offered the GPS coordinates to the call taker, who said they didn't know what to do with.

But yes, if you had been taking the call, the caller may have been less upset, but the final outcome may not have changed.

McWotever

SpaceTime wrote: »

The person making the Facebook post should make contact with ComReg themselves.
This should be fully investigated.

What has ComReg got to do with it?

Thoie

ComReg are responsible for 112/999. They outsourced the actual call taking, but it comes under their remit.

McWotever

Thoie wrote: »

ComReg are responsible for 112/999. They outsourced the actual call taking, but it comes under their remit.

You may want to visit ComRegs website and educate yourselves to their function.

You may also want to reserve judgement on a call taker that you only have one side of the story on. Keyboard warriors.

Phibsboro

kub wrote: »

...

I spotted the helicopter on it and then tracked it to discover that it had been searching up and down the River Lee most of Sunday morning after been dispatched from Waterford at 05:30.

Of course i switched on the RTE Radio 1 08:00 News and there was no mention of an incident, neither was there on any other subsequent hourly news reports.
But then of course we are used to this carry on down here, God knows if it was in The Capital it would have been on the news as soon as the helicopter was airborne out of Dublin airport.

This story still hasn't been mentioned by Examiner, Irish Times or RTE (that I can find). Was anyone actually reported missing? I assume a body hasn't been found as that would definitely have made the news.

Zambia

dave1982 wrote: »

This is floating round facebook, guy called 999 for help with man in river Lee.

I don't know the guy so not 100% how true it is but


https://www.facebook.com/steve.ish.1/posts/10152225296369785


For those not on facebook.

Have we established did this even happen?

Has anyone drowned?

Potential-Monke

Locust wrote: »

Worked for me loads of times
Handy as a lot of people have iphones etc... im sure other phones have similar feature.

2 problems with this.

1: You're taking for granted that ECAS (Emergency Call Answering Service) have access to Google Maps.

2: The government spent a lot of money on Tetra for the Gardaí and it will be rolled out to Ambulance and Fire Service (eventually). It uses a very different grid reference to Google Maps. Google Maps references on the Tetra mapping will bring you to Germany.

Thoie

McWotever wrote: »

You may want to visit ComRegs website and educate yourselves to their function.

You may also want to reserve judgement on a call taker that you only have one side of the story on. Keyboard warriors.

You may want to refer to ComReg's statutory responsibilities in the Communications Regulation Act. Let me know once you've educated yourself.

If you had been arsed reading the thread properly, you would have found that I was defending the call taker, though I appreciate the caller's heightened emotions. People calling 112 are often severely stressed.

Pigeon Reaper

Phibsboro wrote: »

This story still hasn't been mentioned by Examiner, Irish Times or RTE (that I can find). Was anyone actually reported missing? I assume a body hasn't been found as that would definitely have made the news.

Agencies involved in search and rescue/recovery will not involve the media unless it is beneficial to the search. A search is active in the area at present and will continue for a number of weeks or until a recovery is made.

There are a number of valid reasons for not involving media with the numerous incidents that occur around our coasts and rivers every day. The lack of media in this specific case is not unique to Cork.

dave1982

Zambia wrote: »

Have we established did this even happen?

Has anyone drowned?

Yes the story is confirmed don't think any body recovered yet, fella went missing in Cork at 4 am the same night, don't know if it same fella or not.


https://www.google.ie/search?q=man+missing+reiver+lee+cork&oq=man+missing+reiver+lee+cork&aqs=chrome..69i57.8436j0j7&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8

McWotever

Thoie wrote: »

You may want to refer to ComReg's statutory responsibilities in the Communications Regulation Act. Let me know once you've educated yourself.

If you had been arsed reading the thread properly, you would have found that I was defending the call taker, though I appreciate the caller's heightened emotions. People calling 112 are often severely stressed.

A 112 service was provided by BT as appointed by ComReg and they directed the call to a service, ambulance or fire, he didn't specify. Duty discharged.

Any problem the caller has is with the HSE (NAS) or CAMP South or whatever they call themselves now.

My point is ComReg is about the infrastructure and the systems of connecting you with the Emergency Service, not the quality of the service you receive from that emergency service.

When a 112 call is made it is answered in one of three centres (BT)and they ask what service you require and where you are, specifically, what county or city, not exact location. They then pass that call to the relevant call centre. That is ComRegs statutory service completed.

pwurple

Phibsboro wrote: »

This story still hasn't been mentioned by Examiner, Irish Times or RTE (that I can find). Was anyone actually reported missing? I assume a body hasn't been found as that would definitely have made the news.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/search-under-way-for-man-in-river-lee-622136.html

http://www.thejournal.ie/search-man-rive-lee-cork-1307510-Feb2014/?d_gate=1

https://www.facebook.com/CrosshavenCoastGuard?ref=stream

dave1982

Our search of the river Lee for a missing person has been stood down for the day and will resume again in the morning, units searching today were 'Cork City Missing Persons Search & Recovery' The Naval Diver Unit the Gardaí and Mallow Search & Rescue, weather forecast for tomorrow is for heavy rain and very strong winds so in light of this we strongly advise people stay well clear of the river tomorrow.

https://www.facebook.com/missing.persons.search.and.recovery

Thoie

Information on the call itself:

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/callers-fury-at-response-to-city-drowning-incident-258409.html#.Uvs41WGLtYU.twitter

crackcrack30

Bog standard GPS installed in ambulances would cause more problems than it would solve, there is no time for data entry by ambulance personel not to mention meeting time targets for mobile to scenes ect.


Anything less than a red line coming up on a dash/tablet directing personel to a scene would be short change IMO.....
I would rather that a call taker spends the extra few seconds or minutes to ensure that the address/area is right as that time is easily lost on the road....... some times finding a place to turn back or do a U-turn takes a couple of minutes alone and can feel like an age in a situation like being discussed....


BTW... local control centres do get it wrong also on occasions, believe me ....

Locust

crackcrack30 wrote: »

Bog standard GPS installed in ambulances would cause more problems than it would solve, there is no time for data entry by ambulance personel not to mention meeting time targets for mobile to scenes ect...

Are you serious? You mean the front passenger wouldn't have time in the 20 min drive out to the call to type in two simple strings of numbers into a satnav that would help them find someone in a rural/urban area? Of course they would.
That kind of gps wouldn't be recording live tracking so don't mind time targets...

I thought all addresses in Ireland were supposed to be getting digital/gps type postcodes now - so the likes of an post, fire/ambulance and gardai could find your house easier?

GPS would be a big help more answers to problems - we are light years behind our international colleagues in Canada, UK, Euro etc

crackcrack30

Yes I'm perfectly serious why would I joke about this on this thread?.......A 20 minutes response would be a luxury response to most calls I attend.


I'd say you are one of these 'one size fits all' pundits from your reply.
'What works in Birr will work in Ballymun'


As a paramedic the least I expect short of taking the call 'myself' is either accurate directions or a flawless system ......not a quick cheap fix.


I need to know where i'm going when leaving the base.... sometimes down to as simple as left or right at the gate will do, I endevor to leave within 90 seconds........that's a HIQA guideline by the way.
Give me a city region or at worst a land mark or estate and I would then expect a good update within 3-4 minutes of dispatch Re condition of patient and updated directions to call....... most controllers are good at this .


As I said .. anything less than a red line coming up on a dash/tablet directing personel to a scene would be short change IMO.

Paulzx

crackcrack30 wrote: »

Bog standard GPS installed in ambulances would cause more problems than it would solve, there is no time for data entry by ambulance personel not to mention meeting time targets for mobile to scenes ect.
....

I disagree with this statement.

The service i work for have standard sat navs in all vehicles. The non driver can enter info en route if required.

An automatic system liked to control would be the gold standard but a sat nav is better than nothing

crackcrack30

I'm glad that you are content with what your service has provided paulx.....


but better than nothing just keeps us going around in rings, i'll hold out for the gold standard...

Paulzx

crackcrack30 wrote: »

I'm glad that you are content with what your service has provided paulx.....


but better than nothing just keeps us going around in rings, i'll hold out for the gold standard...

It's nothing to do with contentment. By your logic we shouldn't even be using map books as nav aids. We all aspire for improvement and have a duty to keep pushing for it. However, just because the system and equipment are not optimum doesn't mean we refuse an improvement that is on offer.

At the end of the day the job has to be done. We can only do it to the best of our ability. If i can get my hands on anything that helps this i'll take it. It doesn't mean I'm settling for it.

crackcrack30

"At the end of the day the job has to be done. We can only do it to the best of our ability"


My primary role is clinical, almost 100% of my training and upskilling is patient focused.


There is a system built into almost every emergency service all over the world (refered to as control) which is dedicated to....


A, Taking the correct information and address of the emergency &
B, Dispatching an appropriate response to that address/scene.


This system employs several grades, costs a small fortune to run and has been seen by many over the year as a promotion within services..


I stress that their primary role to ensure that the correct response gets to the correct address ........but you are content with a cheap sat nav and a map and off ya go......
Ah but sure your local knowledge will get ya there or let down the window and ask someone, pass the field with the white horse, or sound the siren there maybe they will come out to ya....


As it stands I do not fully have confidence in the system that is there or being proposed by a cheap nav.....I think we and the public deserve better ....maybe that's just me

pwurple

It's the control center that is lacking though. Three calls I've made over the years for ambulances, and each of those three times 'control' have been unable to find my address and thank feck we have gotten help from passer-by to get us to the hospital, and a nurse next door who was able to treat someone. Nothing obscure either, these were all well populated locations, two in the city, and one in a big town. Named the road, spelled the road.. Nada.

I don't want the driver or any medical people in an ambulance also faffing about with directions, control should just send it. It's there that the system completely breaks down in cork, in my experience anyway. People phoning the service don't know what to provide, and it looks like there is even ambiguity in the service itself. sometimes the person answering wants gps, sometimes they want address, sometimes they want directions.

I'd happily tape whatever code/address the emergency services wanted to use to find us, up in my house somewhere, but such a thing doesn't seem to exist.

Paulzx

crackcrack30 wrote: »

"At the end of the day the job has to be done. We can only do it to the best of our ability"


My primary role is clinical, almost 100% of my training and upskilling is patient focused.


There is a system built into almost every emergency service all over the world (refered to as control) which is dedicated to....


A, Taking the correct information and address of the emergency &
B, Dispatching an appropriate response to that address/scene.


This system employs several grades, costs a small fortune to run and has been seen by many over the year as a promotion within services..


I stress that their primary role to ensure that the correct response gets to the correct address ........but you are content with a cheap sat nav and a map and off ya go......
Ah but sure your local knowledge will get ya there or let down the window and ask someone, pass the field with the white horse, or sound the siren there maybe they will come out to ya....


As it stands I do not fully have confidence in the system that is there or being proposed by a cheap nav.....I think we and the public deserve better ....maybe that's just me

Did you even bother your b*&*ox reading my post? Which part of it do you not understand? At least if your going to quote me read the whole post and the context of it. Where did i say I was "content with a cheap sat nav"

Ah right....you'd rather just stay on your superior high horse and "patient focus"

Funnily enough I focus on the patient too. Unless you've suddenly invented the Star Trek transporter there will always be provision for local knowledge. Nothing will get you to a patient quicker than local knowledge.
Alongside this we should have the best technology available but guess what?...we don't. Crying yourself to sleep over this doesn't get the job done. Using what we have whilst pushing for better does.

crackcrack30

Tell me more about this Star Trek Transporter idea.......I'm intrigued.

Locust

i dont think its about cheap fixes... or complicating things.

GPS is a tried/tested/proven/valuable resource.

Yes you can't beat local knowledge and commons sense. But like it or not GPS is in your future and you will kick and scream, give out and be cynical all you want about the days you did things with a map. A GPS system once you are used to it will change and improve your service. It will save lives and also make things more efficient for 'others' attending and supervising the call... and to integrate and update the hospitial. not just you.
GPS is invaluable in my experience.
And its much more than a cheap SatNav. I've seen then in action in other countries. We are years and years behind... its embarrassing.

crackcrack30

Agreed - that's the kind of system that is needed ....fully integrated and automated.......I think that it is not about choices, prices or second best this is what is needed and will eventually be installed...
I just don't see the point of always going the long way around for everything....


Case of point , Irish rail have one of the shortest rail networks with the fewest junctions in Europe and because of this they have or at least had the safest signal system installed available in the world. This has proven its worth over the last few decades with their safety record......


Why can't someone or combined group grasp this nettle with our emergency vehicles? Provide what is proven and needed . I wouldn't even call it leading from the front at this stage.....

FGR

GPS in all emergency vehicles would be fantastic. If people ensure they know or have access to their post code when they have to call in a home emergency life will be all that easier for them and the service.

This is especially true in respect of people living in the countryside.

crackcrack30

With modern tec you could probably automatically link on screen a persons landline to their post code.... not sure about linking a mobile to co-ordinates?

pwurple

crackcrack30 wrote: »

With modern tec you could probably automatically link on screen a persons landline to their post code.... not sure about linking a mobile to co-ordinates?

You can link a mobile to a 'cell' location extremely easily. It works better than landlines. The cells are bigger in rural areas, better fix in urban.

twowheelsonly

If Taxis can do it I don't see why the emergency services can't be supplied with the same technology.

I can ring/text or book a taxi on an app on my phone, giving just my address, check the status of where he is at any time and when he arrives outside he presses a button and I get a text to say he's arrived. 99.99% of the time they get it right.

Loc8 codes would be ideal if they were most widespread but they don't seem to have taken off.

An earlier link says that the call was passed to the NAS. Why wasn't it passed to the Fire Service regardless of what the caller may have asked for? Surely 'person in the river' would merit that??

chinacup

dave1982 wrote: »

This is floating round facebook, guy called 999 for help with man in river Lee.

I don't know the guy so not 100% how true it is but


https://www.facebook.com/steve.ish.1/posts/10152225296369785


For those not on facebook.

I

had the same problem ringing an ambulance for a woman recently who took a bad fall. I explained exactly with about 5 landmarks where I was- any galway person would have known the spot and it was 10mins away from the hospital so they would have known. Yet she had me walk around asking people the street name for about 5mins before sending one out, leaving the old woman on her own which wasn't ideal. And I found her calmness infuriating not reassuring!

Bang Bang

arf91 wrote: »

Yet she had me walk around asking people the street name for about 5mins before sending one out,

The call taker does not respond the ambulance, the dispatcher responds the ambulance and even though you had not given the address of where you were the dispatcher would still respond a resource to the general area whilst the call taker tried to get more accurate information from you. But this has all been mentioned in this thread so I wonder just how much of it did you read, or did you just drop in at the end to add your negative, inaccurate input?

chinacup

Bang Bang wrote: »

The call taker does not respond the ambulance, the dispatcher responds the ambulance and even though you had not given the address of where you were the dispatcher would still respond a resource to the general area whilst the call taker tried to get more accurate information from you. But this has all been mentioned in this thread so I wonder just how much of it did you read, or did you just drop in at the end to add your negative, inaccurate input?

Bang Bang wrote: »

The call taker does not respond the ambulance, the dispatcher responds the ambulance and even though you had not given the address of where you were the dispatcher would still respond a resource to the general area whilst the call taker tried to get more accurate information from you. But this has all been mentioned in this thread so I wonder just how much of it did you read, or did you just drop in at the end to add your negative, inaccurate input?

Why are you so sensitive about this? I didn't read the whole thread no so I didn't see that part. She also said to me "I can't be sure I can help you until I have a street address" so to me that suggessted she couldn't send an ambulance until she got the exact address. Either way it was a frustrating call and how dare you take that tone with me! Take your agression elsewhere please! I have nothing against people in the emergency services personally but this isn't the first time I've had a bad experience when calling an ambulance. The last time being when it took 40mins to get to a location 10mins away for a fatal overdose (my friend died) and my faith in them hasn't been strong since. That was over 5 years ago so maybe things are better now but the ridiculousness of her asking to find out the street name and leave the woman on her own makes me think there's room for improvement.

Bang Bang

arf91 wrote: »

Why are you so sensitive about this? I didn't read the whole thread no so I didn't see that part. She also said to me "I can't be sure I can help you until I have a street address" so to me that suggessted she couldn't send an ambulance until she got the exact address. Either way it was a frustrating call and how dare you take that tone with me! Take your agression elsewhere please! I have nothing against people in the emergency services personally but this isn't the first time I've had a bad experience when calling an ambulance. The last time being when it took 40mins to get to a location 10mins away for a fatal overdose (my friend died) and my faith in them hasn't been strong since. That was over 5 years ago so maybe things are better now but the ridiculousness of her asking to find out the street name and leave the woman on her own makes me think there's room for improvement.

Firstly, I am far from sensitive and certainly am not being sensitive in this thread.

Secondly and most importantly for me, please point out where I am being aggressive, because I am far from aggressive. No need to apologise and please do not make accusations against me again.

Thirdly, if you had of read the thread you would have learned how important the need for exact locations and how the system works regarding the call taker and dispatcher duties.

You then tell us how you experienced a long wait for an ambulance in the past then go on to state that it is ridiculous for the call taker to ask you the name of the street where an ambulance is required!!

chinacup

Bang Bang wrote: »

Firstly, I am far from sensitive and certainly am not being sensitive in this thread.

Secondly and most importantly for me, please point out where I am being aggressive, because I am far from aggressive. No need to apologise and please do not make accusations against me again.

Thirdly, if you had of read the thread you would have learned how important the need for exact locations and how the system works regarding the call taker and dispatcher duties.

You then tell us how you experienced a long wait for an ambulance in the past then go on to state that it is ridiculous for the call taker to ask you the name of the street where an ambulance is required!!

There was no issue with finding the address, the ambulance had never received the message first time your now making presumptions. You were being aggressive its very clear to see that from the last line of your post. I understand the importance of getting the exact location neither of which were a valid point in the two incidents I was involved in! The first time there was a problem with the system somehow-never found out why- in that the ambulance never got the original message and in the second instance the person on call was slow and had me leave the injured woman who was going in and out of consciousness while sitting up - I said this to her on the phone and was worried she would fall but she insisted I go and ask someone the street name. If I had come back and shed fallen again, which was very possible, there would have been a real issue.

In both of these cases it was frustrating and the best course of action wasn't taken these are my points!

cyclops999

3 Call centres in the in the Country CAMP West located in Castlebar, Camp East in Dublin & Munster located in Limerick for 999 calls for Fire Service. I know of incidents where call centres have called the wrong brigades, to incidents that are not even in the province. Post codes are essential and urgently required for emergency services.

19hz

hfallada wrote: »

This call is the reason was postcodes. A postcode would help emergency services with the fact there is several towns in Ireland with same name across dozens of countries. His many o connell streets in Ireland?

But you have to question why the operator didn't get the help of someone who knew cork

Plenty of people make phone calls from area's they don't live in, therefore they won't know the post code, at most they'll know the start of the post code but that's the same as saying Cork City really.

Think_then_talk wrote: »

As far as I can recall 999/112 don't need a post code or an address of the caller they use Gps.

I know they do this in the UK for sure, I'd imagine it's here too.

dobman88 wrote: »

Maybe localised call centres but that costs money :rolleyes:

I think the old system of being put through to the local fire/amb/garda station was great, locals talking to locals who knew the areas.

Thoie wrote: »

It's been 112 for a billion years (at least 10). 999 was unique to UK and Ireland. It runs in parallel with 112 (the all-Europe number) because, as you've demonstrated nicely, Irish/UK people don't seem to have paid attention to the transition campaign they ran.

I'm not sure if it's true, but I heard there were talks to introduce 911 as a third emergency number here, because so many people are used to watching American TV and hearing "Call 911" that they were trying to use it here. <-- Not true!

I always thought 911, 112, 999, 000, 311, 119 etc etc along with others all re-direct to the emergency call centers?

crackcrack30 wrote: »

Bog standard GPS installed in ambulances would cause more problems than it would solve, there is no time for data entry by ambulance personel not to mention meeting time targets for mobile to scenes ect.

Stop, takes seconds to input gps or postcodes to a sat nav, especially if your at it on a daily basis.
Also, UK have systems where once you accept the job the gps automatically starts navigating you to the call..

Thoie

19hz wrote: »

I always thought 911, 112, 999, 000, 311, 119 etc etc along with others all re-direct to the emergency call centers?

Someone in the know went to great pains to explain that this wasn't the case. I struck out my original comment in an effort to stop propagating the myth, as it could cost someone in an emergency. The only numbers to use in Ireland are 112 or 999.