While many of us will be tucking into a traditional turkey dinner this Christmas, control room operators will be helping to save lives.
This Christmas, as many of us are at home celebrating with our families, control room operators will be hard at work. While the police, firefighters and paramedics are the heroes of the front line, control room operators are the unsung heroes behind the scenes. Their high-pressure roles are crucial in ensuring that emergency services reach those in need as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Working in control rooms is far from easy, and it is made even more difficult over Christmas. Published data reports have shown that the number of control room calls has already seen an increase over the past year, with 75% of respondents taking 999 calls stated that call volumes had increased in the last 12 months. But the winter months are made even busier, because of poor weather conditions, increased alcohol consumption, and even small things like people getting new phones as gifts and calling emergency services by accident.
Giving control room staff a round of Santa-pplause
At Telent, we pride ourselves on supporting control rooms across the country. For a number of years, we have been providing critical infrastructure across the UK's emergency services, including the designing, delivering, supporting and the operation of control rooms. We understand the high pressure the staff are under and consistently do our best to help support their vital roles through the use of technology.
In the lead up to the holiday period, we have been visiting control rooms to show our support and deliver well-deserved sweet treats to the members of staff. We have also been promoting the APD Control Room Awards, the national awards that celebrate the crucial job control room workers, which Telent is proud to be platinum sponsors of.
Darrell Shaw, our Systems Consultant, has already visited Avon & Somerset Police and Devon & Cornwall Police control rooms. He had a great time handing out chocolates and posters as well as meeting all the unsung heroes who work around the clock to keep Britain safe.
How you can help
At Telent, we are always looking for new ways to show our appreciation for control room workers and to make their jobs easier. But there are also many ways everyone can help control rooms this Christmas:
Only call 999 for emergencies, when there is a danger to life, when a crime is in progress, and when violence is being used or threatened
Call 101 the Police non-emergency number for situations that do not require an emergency response
For less urgent health needs, you should call NHS 111 or contact your GP or local pharmacist
If you call 999 by accident DO NOT HANG UP, it is better to explain to the operator what happened
Do no misuse 999 or make a hoax call as it is a criminal offence. You could face a maximum penalty of up to six months in prison or a fine of £5,000.
We want to thank all the emergency service staff that will be working this Christmas and beyond for their fantastic work. We are all able to have a happy Christmas, safe in the knowledge that these incredible teams are on hand should the worst happen. We cannot express our gratitude enough, and we hope, no matter where you are, you have a merry Christmas and a happy new year.