Ambulances set to map 999 calls

Ambulances may be able to get injured people more quickly thanks to a new
system of locating mobile phone callers.

It is hoped the new system of immediately locating mobile calls will save
lives and cut response times.

Using new technology, now when a mobile 999 call is connected by BT to the
ambulance control room, the emergency medical dispatcher (call-taker) will
see a map on-screen of the area where the person is calling from.

London Ambulance Service, which has developed the new system with the help
of BT, is the first in the UK to use the system but it could now be adopted
across the country.

Around 750 emergency calls from mobile phones are received by the Service
each day - accounting for a quarter of all its 999 calls.

In many instances the callers are unfamiliar with their surroundings and
cannot give the exact location where help is needed.

Philip Selwood, director of ambulance services said: "It is reducing the
time it takes to confirm the location of mobile callers which not only helps
to reduce the stress on them but also enables us to dispatch the ambulance
more quickly."




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