“This is because I lost my wife 18 months ago tragically. My phone call got put through to Liverpool and they didn’t know where Moses Gate Country Park was, and they asked me to Google it.
“I was 80 years of age then and I couldn’t do it because you are in a state of shock, you just want somebody to help you and they didn’t help at all, and she put the phone down on me."Oh, there's plenty of stuff about action to put up signs and recommend apps, but nothing to say what action was taken against that call handler.
Is that because there wasn't any?
2 comments:
The call to the emergency services would have been recorded. The person taking the call would obviously know that. It is possible that the highly trained professional call handler asked the caller to google their own location, however it is far more likely that the caller was in a blind panic. If the call handler ended the call, they may have wanted this to happen:-
"We suggest you add your emergency contacts to your iPhone sooner rather than later. Doing so means that, after an emergency call ends, your mobile will alert your emergency contacts with a text message. Those contacts will also receive details on your current location". All smartphones have this facility, some even automatically activate the front and rear cameras, and the microphone and send live pictures to your emergency contasts.
The park in question is 750 acres which is roughly twice the size of Hyde Park, would need around 750 signs to be sure to locate someone. Multiply that by all the public spaces across the country, and it simply won't happen.
"...however it is far more likely that the caller was in a blind panic. "
Not something an experienced call taker would be unable to handle. Or even a trainee would be expected not to be well prepared for...
"The park in question is 750 acres which is roughly twice the size of Hyde Park, would need around 750 signs to be sure to locate someone. Multiply that by all the public spaces across the country, and it simply won't happen."
Oh, indeed. It's a bad idea, or the 'We must do something, this is something, let's do it!' variety. But the emergency services need to realise that not everyone has a smartphone. They can't rely on it.
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