Emergency Control Centre
Encyclopedia
An Emergency Control Centre or Emergency Communications Centre more commonly abbreviated to ECC is a concept used by emergency service
s in the UK describing a building or room where control room operators take calls from members of the public in need of assistance through the 999
emergency number. This can be police, fire and ambulance or similar, or all of the above in the same building, although it is used most by police forces.
ECC's have been around since the beginning of emergency services in Britain
but the first to respond to the 999
number was in 1937 in the London area. In old policing ECC's were basic and consisted of a telephone's, maps, police box
es and radios. Over time as technology has advanced more equipment is used in dealing with calls. Nowadays technology is used to pinpoint the location of the caller, advanced logging systems are used to record conversations and events, should they be needed as evidence, and live records are kept of the locations of all units on patrol to co-ordinate effective responses to tasks.
Control room operators usually work in teams on variable shift patterns, with shifts lasting many hours. Emergency control centres work twenty four hours day, all year round, and are usually busiest on Friday and Saturday night. Being staffed twenty four hours a day requires that roughly 80 operators are required to work standard shifts to keep the control centre running, based on a standard sized jurisdiction.
Cleveland Police
are the only force in the UK that have a privately run ECC.
Emergency service
Emergency services are organizations which ensure public safety and health by addressing different emergencies. Some agencies exist solely for addressing certain types of emergencies whilst others deal with ad hoc emergencies as part of their normal responsibilities...
s in the UK describing a building or room where control room operators take calls from members of the public in need of assistance through the 999
999 (emergency telephone number)
999 is an official emergency telephone number in a number of countries which allows the caller to contact emergency services for urgent assistance....
emergency number. This can be police, fire and ambulance or similar, or all of the above in the same building, although it is used most by police forces.
ECC's have been around since the beginning of emergency services in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
but the first to respond to the 999
999 (emergency telephone number)
999 is an official emergency telephone number in a number of countries which allows the caller to contact emergency services for urgent assistance....
number was in 1937 in the London area. In old policing ECC's were basic and consisted of a telephone's, maps, police box
Police box
A police box is a British telephone kiosk or callbox located in a public place for the use of members of the police, or for members of the public to contact the police...
es and radios. Over time as technology has advanced more equipment is used in dealing with calls. Nowadays technology is used to pinpoint the location of the caller, advanced logging systems are used to record conversations and events, should they be needed as evidence, and live records are kept of the locations of all units on patrol to co-ordinate effective responses to tasks.
Control room operators usually work in teams on variable shift patterns, with shifts lasting many hours. Emergency control centres work twenty four hours day, all year round, and are usually busiest on Friday and Saturday night. Being staffed twenty four hours a day requires that roughly 80 operators are required to work standard shifts to keep the control centre running, based on a standard sized jurisdiction.
Cleveland Police
Cleveland Police
Cleveland Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the area of former county of Cleveland in north east England. The Cleveland Police area covers approximately and has a population of over 554,000....
are the only force in the UK that have a privately run ECC.
See also
- 999 Emergency Number999 (emergency telephone number)999 is an official emergency telephone number in a number of countries which allows the caller to contact emergency services for urgent assistance....
- Emergency Telephone NumberEmergency telephone numberMany countries' public telephone networks have a single emergency telephone number, sometimes known as the universal emergency telephone number or occasionally the emergency services number, that allows a caller to contact local emergency services for assistance. The emergency telephone number may...
- 101 Non-Emergency Number