Fire service lacks vital equipment

Tag : Used Computer Equipment
It was previously claimedthe move would save up to £20m a year but is now expected to costGovernment about £3m a year.

The blueprint will see a "super centre" in Warrington, handling 999emergencies across the county, Cheshire, Lancashire, GreaterManchester and Merseyside.

The new centre will be more advanced than individual systems run byfire services and be able to meet all eight key capabilities,compared with the three currently met by Cumbria.

Automatic Vehicle Location System (AVLS) will show 999 call staffexactly where each fire engine is, allowing them to send thenearest crew to the next call, equipment Cumbria does not have,according to the report.

Fire Minister Parmjit Dhanda said: "The regional benefits caseshows that, although the current control rooms in England haveserved their local communities well and are operated by highlyprofessional and committed staff, the existing disparate systems donot provide an adequate response to the threats, risks anduncertainty the public and firefighters now face in today's world."

The new centre will be able to immediately identify the location ofa caller. All appliances will also have "in cab" computers toprovide building floor plans, show the quickest route to incidentsand show the billing address of any landline phone used to make anemergency call.

It will also be able to trace mobile phone callers if someone doesnot know exactly where they are.