Wiltshire Emergency Services
Encyclopedia
Wiltshire Emergency Services is the collaboration of the emergency services in Wiltshire
, England
, including Wiltshire Police, Great Western Ambulance Service
and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service
The plot chosen for the emergency communications centre was on the Wiltshire Police headquarters site on London Road, Devizes, which was owned by Wiltshire Police Authority.
After extensive consultation it wasn't until July 1999 that the £2.6 million required funding was secured under the Governments 'Invest to Save' Scheme.
The new building called the Wiltshire Emergency Communications Centre (later known as the Wiltshire Emergency Services Building, or WES Building) was opened by the Duchess of Gloucester in a small ceremony in November 2003.
Wiltshire Police have been allocated half of the control room, their operators wear traditional police white shirt and black tie with epaulettes reading 'Emergency Call Operator', Senior opeartors have a bar above this. Operators are supervised by Force Operations Room Inspectors, who are ranked police Inspectors. There are roughly 80 operators split into teams, then workstation, who work variable shifts, non-stop, all year round. The caller is put through to the workstation assigned to the location of their incident, the call operators have detailed knowledge of the area their workstations area covers.
Great Western Ambulance Service
are allocated a quarter of the control room, their operators wear dark green jumpsuits with green epaulettes.
Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service
are also allocated a quarter of the control room, their operators wear red shirts with black epaulettes, with bars denoting rank.
All information is shared instantly between the three services and they can collaborate easily if the need arises.
The Emergency Communications Centre also acts as a base in the event of a major incident.
The police non-emergency Force Contact Centre is located in a separate building, and not in the WES Building, however information is shared instantly between the emergency and non-emergency control rooms.
initiative introduced by the Labour government
would see the Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service
control room relocated from Devizes
to Taunton
. Although this project has been cancelled by the Conservative government, the option to proceed has been made available.
, a helicopter shared between Wiltshire Police and Great Western Ambulance Service, an arrangement seen in only one other part of the UK.
The WES has equipped and trained Fire and Rescue crews to use defibrillators so that they can respond to some ambulance calls when there is too high a demand for ambulances.
Another initiative allowed ambulance crews to standby at fire stations where they have predicted their workload. Ambulance crews now have the use of facilities when before they had to sit in their vehicles.
The WES has also overseen the sharing off stations in Mere
and Bradford-on-Avon, which are shared by ambulance and fire and rescue crews.
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, including Wiltshire Police, Great Western Ambulance Service
Great Western Ambulance Service
The Great Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust is a UK National Health Service trust providing emergency and non emergency patient transport services to Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, Gloucestershire, North Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire in the South West England region...
and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service
Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service
Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service is the county-wide, statutory emergency fire and rescue service for the ceremonial county of Wiltshire, England. It is administered by a joint authority of 13 members, 9 appointed by Wiltshire Council and 4 by Swindon Borough Council, called the Wiltshire and Swindon...
History
The Wiltshire Emergency Services project was set up in February 1998 to investigate the feasibility of re-locating all control rooms into one emergency communications centre building, as well sharing information and services.The plot chosen for the emergency communications centre was on the Wiltshire Police headquarters site on London Road, Devizes, which was owned by Wiltshire Police Authority.
After extensive consultation it wasn't until July 1999 that the £2.6 million required funding was secured under the Governments 'Invest to Save' Scheme.
The new building called the Wiltshire Emergency Communications Centre (later known as the Wiltshire Emergency Services Building, or WES Building) was opened by the Duchess of Gloucester in a small ceremony in November 2003.
Wiltshire Emergency Services Building
The Wiltshire Emergency Services building project broke ground in 2001 when the existing Llewellyn Building was demolished and the WES building was built on top. The building is a two tiered building at London Road, Devizes and is home to all three emergency service's control rooms, as well as a conference room, staff rooms, offices and facilities.Wiltshire Police have been allocated half of the control room, their operators wear traditional police white shirt and black tie with epaulettes reading 'Emergency Call Operator', Senior opeartors have a bar above this. Operators are supervised by Force Operations Room Inspectors, who are ranked police Inspectors. There are roughly 80 operators split into teams, then workstation, who work variable shifts, non-stop, all year round. The caller is put through to the workstation assigned to the location of their incident, the call operators have detailed knowledge of the area their workstations area covers.
Great Western Ambulance Service
Great Western Ambulance Service
The Great Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust is a UK National Health Service trust providing emergency and non emergency patient transport services to Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, Gloucestershire, North Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire in the South West England region...
are allocated a quarter of the control room, their operators wear dark green jumpsuits with green epaulettes.
Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service
Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service
Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service is the county-wide, statutory emergency fire and rescue service for the ceremonial county of Wiltshire, England. It is administered by a joint authority of 13 members, 9 appointed by Wiltshire Council and 4 by Swindon Borough Council, called the Wiltshire and Swindon...
are also allocated a quarter of the control room, their operators wear red shirts with black epaulettes, with bars denoting rank.
All information is shared instantly between the three services and they can collaborate easily if the need arises.
The Emergency Communications Centre also acts as a base in the event of a major incident.
The police non-emergency Force Contact Centre is located in a separate building, and not in the WES Building, however information is shared instantly between the emergency and non-emergency control rooms.
FiReControl
The FiReControlFiReControl
FiReControl was a project, initiated in the UK in March 2004, to reduce the number of control rooms used to handle emergency calls for fire services and authorities. Presently there are 46 control rooms in England that handle calls from the local public for emergency assistance via the 999 system...
initiative introduced by the Labour government
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
would see the Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service
Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service
Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service is the county-wide, statutory emergency fire and rescue service for the ceremonial county of Wiltshire, England. It is administered by a joint authority of 13 members, 9 appointed by Wiltshire Council and 4 by Swindon Borough Council, called the Wiltshire and Swindon...
control room relocated from Devizes
Devizes
Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The town is about southeast of Chippenham and about east of Trowbridge.Devizes serves as a centre for banks, solicitors and shops, with a large open market place where a market is held once a week...
to Taunton
Taunton
Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....
. Although this project has been cancelled by the Conservative government, the option to proceed has been made available.
Other Projects
The project oversees the Wiltshire Police/Air Ambulance HelicopterWiltshire Air Ambulance
The Wiltshire Air Ambulance or Wiltshire Police Helicopter, is an air ambulance and police helicopter which responds to seriously ill or injured casualties and police incidents across Wiltshire...
, a helicopter shared between Wiltshire Police and Great Western Ambulance Service, an arrangement seen in only one other part of the UK.
The WES has equipped and trained Fire and Rescue crews to use defibrillators so that they can respond to some ambulance calls when there is too high a demand for ambulances.
Another initiative allowed ambulance crews to standby at fire stations where they have predicted their workload. Ambulance crews now have the use of facilities when before they had to sit in their vehicles.
The WES has also overseen the sharing off stations in Mere
Mere, Wiltshire
Mere is a small town in Wiltshire, England. It lies at the extreme southwestern tip of Salisbury Plain close to the borders of Somerset and Dorset....
and Bradford-on-Avon, which are shared by ambulance and fire and rescue crews.
See also
- Emergency Control CentreEmergency Control CentreAn Emergency Control Centre or Emergency Communications Centre more commonly abbreviated to ECC is a concept used by emergency services 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...
- Non-Emergency Control Room
- Wiltshire Police
- Wiltshire Fire and Rescue ServiceWiltshire Fire and Rescue ServiceWiltshire Fire & Rescue Service is the county-wide, statutory emergency fire and rescue service for the ceremonial county of Wiltshire, England. It is administered by a joint authority of 13 members, 9 appointed by Wiltshire Council and 4 by Swindon Borough Council, called the Wiltshire and Swindon...
- Great Western Ambulance ServiceGreat Western Ambulance ServiceThe Great Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust is a UK National Health Service trust providing emergency and non emergency patient transport services to Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, Gloucestershire, North Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire in the South West England region...