Strathclyde Police newspaper “upbeat” - June, 2008
New marking systems are being put in place at two parts of Strathclyde where it can be difficult to pinpoint the exact location of 999 calls.
The lifebelt positions at the water next to Glasgow Green and the wind turbines at the currently-under-construction wind farm at Whitelees (near East Kilbride) are being labelled with individual high visibility coding. This is so that callers can quote the code of the nearest lifebelt position or turbine in order for call-takers to get emergency services to the right spot ASAP.
These codes are being detailed on STORM (Systems for Tasking and Operational Resource Management) so the Force’s call-takers can, at the click of a button, find out exactly where a caller (or the person being called about) is located.
Paul Fairhall of STORM, who is the command and control computer system admin manager, told Upbeat:
“There can be delays in attending incidents when the caller is unable to say exactly where he or she is.
“The Whitelees Wind Farm is seven miles long and four-and-a-half miles wide, with plans for a final total of around 140 turbines. Before the ‘labelling’ idea was investigated (in association with police mountain rescue), it was almost impossible to locate a person in this area.
“The emergency services had to call at the site office and be taken out to look for the person. However, if each turbine is marked with a unique number, we can instantly find out where the person is calling from.”
Paul added that, equally, having the lifebelts all location-coded means help gets there quicker. These have also been made more visible to the public by being properly mounted next to the water and having new yellow no-parking boxes painted on the ground in front of each one.
Paul said:
“These two projects provide valuable reference points in areas where it is potentially difficult to identify the exact location of the caller. It also means we have the ability to add specific officer safety information next to such information on the STORM system.”
- The Govan-based STORM Administration Unit does the day-to-day maintenance and updating of STORM databases, giving advice and assistance while ensuring the right developments for STORM are put in place.
- The lifebelt improvements at Glasgow Green were done along with long-standing lifeboat operator George Parsonage. (For health and safety reasons, George no longer does rescues, but is still involved in things like water safety instruction.)
- A new lifebelt sign is being erected at the Glasgow Science Centre pontoon. The Glasgow Humane Society is in talks with locations alongside the river to find sponsors for more lifebelt positions, covering the length of the Clyde and other waterways in Strathclyde. As these are added, STORM admin will continue to plot the locations and add them to the command and control system.