Who to call at a crash?

[Liam]

The call should start:

Operator: "Emergency, which service?"

<You explain what's happened and your location>

You will then probably go through to the Police or Ambulance service and the 999 operator will then alert the rest on your behalf. If you are unsure, the operator will default to the police.

Unless you specifically ask for a service, that is generally what does happen, in my experience anyway.

 

[TorqueOfTheDevil]

The police would probably 'own' the plan

Not probably but definitely. For any overland incident, the police have primacy (and, below the high water mark, the Coastguard) and will therefore notify - with minimal delay - any agency which can usefully assist. For a major incident like a significant train crash (such as the Grayrigg derailment), the police will set up their Bronze, Silver or Gold command and run it from there.

The problem is that, in many cases - Grayrigg is a good example - calling the 'obvious' emergency service may not achieve a lot. There were plenty of injured people in the Pendolino, but no ambulance was able to access the scene because of the lack of nearby roads. Because it was dark, the air ambulance couldn't attend either (and frankly, given the number of casualties, even a gaggle of air ambulances couldn't have achieved much). What the police did with commendable (but entirely normal) speed was to notify the Aeronautical Rescue Co-ordination Centre, who instantly dispatched three large rescue helicopters which were able to move a number of casualties at once (a fourth aircraft was launched later when a crew had been mustered). The police also put their own helicopter overhead to co-ordinate the movements of the rescue aircraft and reduce the risks of four aircraft operating into the same field in the dark. I seem to recall that the police also summoned assistance from several of the local Mountain Rescue Teams whose vehicles were better able to get to the scene than the usual emergency services.

While many incidents are less challenging, the best bet in most cases is to call the police and let them sort it out.

 

[ralphchadkirk]

In London it currently takes 4 minutes from a person ringing 999 to all the emergency services being called. The operator they speak to has to ring each service to request their help.

I've never heard that before. Both police and ambulance in London have the ability to drop calls into each other's systems for immediate dispatch - this is literally a click of the mouse to do.

All of the main Emergency Services run 'Emergency Plans'. These are drawn up through detailed planning and discussion. These plans are computerised and, in the event of a train crash, are activated by pressing a few buttons. The plan sets out who needs to know what, and it also includes touch button connection to the relevant control room, or electronic log transfer.

If a caller contacted 999 and went through to the ambulance, then the ambulance controller would notify the police. The police would probably 'own' the plan. If there was a fire, then the fire controller would activate their own part of the plan, and would 'own' the fire and rescue scene. If it was a major event then all of the services would get together under one roof and oversee the response.

Yes, each service will have its own major incident plan. This defines the criteria for a serious, major and catastrophic incident and defines the resources that should be sent (for example, initial attendance at a major incident might be 10 managers, 20 ambulances, a control vehicle, a medical incident team, a command support team, an equipment vehicle and a tactical advisor as well as a load of on-call types woken up). An incident can be a major incident for one service but not for another (for example, the Buncefield fire was a major incident for a few days for the fire brigade but it wasn't for the ambulance service). However if all services are on scene they should all cooperate at bronze, silver and gold level.

 

[AnonymousUser1]

if you have an emergency where multiple services will clearly be required - such as a train crash or serious RTC, ask for the police when the BT /C+W 999 op asks which service.

The relevant police force will directly alert BTP, ambulance , Fire and Rescue etc through their links to the relevant control rooms

if you did ask for ambulance at the 999 operator point the ambulance call taker would take the call , following their major incident procedures and other call takers / the control supervisor and supt would alert the relevant other services.

i see no issue with a spare / second comms person calling the NR number as well , but the primary 999 caller should, if there are a number of people there not involved, remain the comms person to liase with the 999 service control rooms until the initial ES response arrives -

 

[Tom B]

As I understood it, if you call asking for "all three" (as you might do if you had just witnessed a serious accident - ok the probability of this is tiny) they would put you through to the police. I believe that the systems in use vary wildly in different parts of the country - for example in some areas they aren't set up to share any data about the caller, so when they put you through to the service they have to explain that they are an "Operator at X location connecting a caller on London 7222 1234". I presume the electronic system is being rolled out over time.

I was also once told that it is easier for the emergency services to locate you if you dial 999 from a fixed line, as they obviously have records of where each line is located - so if you are standing next to a phone box, it's easier to use that.

 

[21C101]

This would be my preferences in order of priority:

1) If at all possible (ie anywhere near an SPT or level crossing phone or you know the signalbox number) phone the signalman and start the call with "This is an emergency call"

This is because the first thing the signalman will do is put all the signals to red preventing another train ploughing into the wreckage. Only then will the signalman will then phone the emergency services using a procedure he's been trained to do.

2) If there is a railway auto (ETD) phone in the vicinity phone 999 from this. This is because the railway 999 operator has knowledge and information on railway premises, and will likely know exactly where you are calling from through calling line identity so the emergency services can be directed clearly and get there faster and control signalbox alerted quickly.

3) Last resort phone 999 from a public/other BT/PSTN phone or mobile phone. This will get through to the public network 999 operator who may not be as familiar with the railway network as the railway 999 operator.