Evening Times - Feb 07, 2007
River rescue hero says 999 call centre is ‘risking lives’
By Iain Lundy
GLASGOW'S river rescue hero George Parsonage claims a lack of local knowledge in emergency service call centres is putting lives at risk.
Mr Parsonage, of the Glasgow Humane Society, said he could think of at least a dozen occasions when rescuers responding to a 999 call had gone to the wrong location.
He also claimed ambulance crews and police were often confused by similar sounding place names along the River Clyde - such as King George V Dock at Shieldhall and George V Bridge in the city centre and Renfrew Ferry nightclub and the Renfrew Ferry slipway.
"There is a huge problem. Many people in call centres do not come from Glasgow and do not know the area," said Mr Parsonage.
"They should be made to sit a test, like the London Taxi Drivers' Test, so they know exactly where they are going."
However, the Scottish Ambulance Service said it used sophisticated satellite and mapping systems and Mr Parsonage's fears were "not an issue".
Mr Parsonage, who still patrols the Clyde by boat every day and has been credited with saving 1500 people over the past 25 years, insists it is a disaster waiting to happen.
"If someone phones for an ambulance and says there is an emergency in a house on Glasgow Green the call centre people won't accept that - they want the name of the street.
"And if they are told St Andrew's Bridge they usually have to ask what bridge the caller means.
"I can sympathise with those handling calls, but it does not help Joe Public."
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman said all 999 calls for Glasgow and Ayrshire were handled at a centre in Paisley.
He could not confirm or deny Mr Parsonage's claim about the number of times rescuers had gone to the wrong location, but added: "We are still employing most of the same people as we did in Glasgow, so they all have good local knowledge.
"The sophistication of mapping systems and satellite technology means this is not an issue.
"Don't forget the crews who are dispatched are local and will have the local knowledge required to get to the right place."