United Kingdom Public Safety Items
Table of Contents
1. Various Items
1A. Tayside Incident
2. London Fire Brigade
3. Fire Brigade Websites
4. Ambulance Items
5. Emergency Service Websites
6. Scanner / Radio Freqs Websites
===============================================
1. Various Items
See the fireradio list around 5 May 2001 for London FD info + UK fire cover info. See ?April 2001 for several post from highlandglen to fireradio list for details of police and fire and ambulance radio systems in the UK - very detailed info. (May2001)
Saving Lives - Our Healthier Nation - July 1999 - a detailed look at the major causes of death in the UK - http://www.official-documents.co.uk/document/cm43/4386/4386-00.htm
Her Majesty's Fire Service Inspectorate contains operational reviews of Fire Brigades and 1999 Fire Service (Radio) Procurement Project (look under Fire Brigades + Fire Radio Comms) - late 1999 info
His Majestys Royal Fire Report for 1998 - no fire deaths info listed
Links to Several Fire Brigades Online
Also check www.fire-ems.net for UK FDs online
Dorset FD is Moving to ?TETRA Radios
www.ananova.com has lots of UK fire items
-----------------------------------------------
Group: �� alt.radio.scanner.uk Subject: �� Re: W. Yorks police helicopter X-Admin: �� news@aol.com Date: �� Sun, Aug 13, 2000, 7:32pm (EDT+4) Organization: �� AOL, http://www.aol.co.uk
X-ray 99 operates on 138.10625 FM for tasking and PR channel 94, 452.1000 for air-ground ops.
===============================================
1A. Tayside Incident
8 Tayside Firefighters Face Charges - 1999
Tayside Inquiry - 25 April 2000 - ?Dispatcher Failed to Relay Vital Info
===============================================
2. LONDON
London Police Radio System Info - 1999 - per Email 1/2/2000 - London PD has a 13 site/cell Smart Zone trunked radio system - each site has a different control channel [452Mhz]
See the ?Dougfisher website - he has data files for BC245 - London PD TRS is on there (the site was posted to fireradio list and sonofrcma lists on 06May2001)
News Reports on the London Train Crash in October 1999
Contract Awarded for New Subway Radio System in London - December 1999
===============================================
3. FD Websites
Cleveland Fire Control - April 2000 - ?Merging Police + Fire Dispatch
Tayside Fire Brigade - in Scotland - also see items above
West Sussex Fire Brigade Website
===============================================
4. Ambulance Items
Closure of Amb Stations Proposed in Essex - May 2000
===============================================
5. Emergency Website United Kingdom's Urban Search And Rescue Team
===============================================
6. Scanner Frequency Sites
PROMA has been in existence from 1993 and the Government hasnt shut them down yet - per post to alt.radio.scanner.uk on 05May2001 - new ATC computer info system may have live feeds of ATC radio traffic
---------------
Freq Site March 2000- (July 00 - has message board and chat)
Scott's Scanner Page - March 2000
RF Man's Guide to Spectrum Usage in the UK
UK Freq List at www.ufd.org.uk
http://go.to/wells10000 - 3 August 00
-----------------------------------------------
I have a file somewhere that lists all of the Fire Brigades and Police Agencies in the UK and Wales, along with their radio base callsigns - perhaps it can be found in the INTERNATIONAL DISPATCH file - yes it is there and I shall link to it sometime
The Firenet website lists all of the FDs in the UK. It also lists their addresses and phone numbers (and their website if operational). The FireNet website also has a bulletin board and links to various fire websites.
-----------------------------------------------
In Lancashire UK, three police control centers are being merged into 1 mega-control center. Here is a comment on the changes from alt.radio.scanner.uk
Some time around 1995ish the home office told forces to abandon their 2-tier control systems (ie local control rooms and a central force control room) and go over to single-teir systems (ie just one large control room). This was (mainly) as a result of one incident where a madman went on a rampage with an AK-47. Because a 2-tier system was in place, BOTH control rooms tried to control what the police were doing. neither control room talked to each other. the result was chaos.
Interestingly, in some forces where single tier systems are in use, when there is a major incident the controller on the VHF radio often doesn't talk to the controller on the UHF radio (who is sitting on the other side of the room). and they sometimes dont talk to the people answering the phones! The result is chaos.
[In the UK, portable police radios are usually on UHF and mobile police radios are usually on VHF - Peter S - not quite right][see posts to fireradio list from April and May 2001 for more detailed info - info on portable FD radios, forward command posts, BA procedures, Scotland radio systems, interference with Europe, etc - May 2001]
October 2000
-----------------------------------------------
Hi from England.We have 50 fire depts across the whole of the United Kingdom (thats England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland), pop. 55 miillion+. We have common standards prescribed by central government for Ff selection, recruit training, promotion exams etc.
Conditions of Service (pay, pensions, hours etc) are agreed by a Joint Committee where employers & employees are equally represented.
Training manuals are centrally produced, describing how equipment works, tactics, strategies etc. These are actually 'best practice' manuals, with Depts (Fire Brigades) having significant input for each one.
Fire appliances must meet centrally-prescribed (similar arrangements as for Conditions of service) performance standards regarding acceleration, braking, pump output, fittings etc. All major equipment (e.g. hose, radios, SCBA, ladders, aerials) meet common standards and are inter-operable nationally.
There is one Fire Service College, which all officers attend for training, and best practice is taught, learnt & shared (especially in the evenings!). Net result? Not a perfect system, by any means....but I can apply for a transfer to any Brigade and immediately fit into that organisation. Working across brigade borders is not a significant issue (recent example - 10 pumping appliances from neighbouring brigades assisted us through a major flooding incident).
Joint purchasing opportunities allow significant financial savings to be made (note that there is significant competition between suppliers, but they can pass on the cost savings they realise by building in the core specs that they know we are going to ask for).
The downside? Having to endure an external audit every two years to ensure that we are 'effective and efficient'. Not much of a chore, especially as the inspectors then share the knowledge they glean from the inspections so that everyone can share the new 'best practice'.
Incidentally, my brigade has 24 stations and 750 personnel, employing 'career' and 'volunteer' staff (paid per call), protecting 750,000 people living in large developments (250,000 in Brighton) to very remote rural areas. As a response officer, I cover a very wide range of risks, hopefully fairly effectively. If we have a large incident in the urban areas, the 'rural' crews assist, and vice-versa. No problem.
Sorry for the long reply....it is not easy to describe a whole new set-up succinctly. This is only really intended to show that after 200 years of organised public fire brigades, we have got a method that is a mix of centralised standard-setting and locally-accountable diversity, that works for us.
P.S. I do have some first-hand knowledge of US-style firefighting when I spent 2 weeks riding with crews studying the use of PPV. This knowledge was part of guidance issued to all UK brigades by central govt.
October 2000 from Fire-L@topica.com
-----------------------------------------------
Updated - 21July00 - W Sussex FD - 15Aug00 - ufd scanner site - 25Aug00 - Saving Lives - 16Oct00 - PD Control Centers - 23Oct00 - FD Basics - 25Oct00 - go.to/wells10000 - 30Oct00 - general UK FD info + portable radio info - 5May00 - radio + London info