Triple-0 Leaves Region
Illawarra Mercury
Thursday January 27, 2005
TRIPLE-0 calls that would normally be fielded by operators at Warilla will be dealt with by call centres at Tuggerah, on the Central Coast, and Lithgow, in the Blue Mountains, from today.
The changes follow revelations that of the 15,000 calls made to triple-0 each week, only 20 per cent are emergencies.The other 80 per cent of calls can now be transferred to the appropriate police unit such as Crime Stoppers, the Police Assistance Line or the Customer Assistance Unit.This was not possible before. But the changes have raised concerns that Police Assistance Line operators, based in the same call centres, will be forced to deal with triple-0 calls they are not trained to handle, potentially leading to dangerous mistakes. On September 22 last year, a miscommunication made through triple-0 led to NRMA CareFlight being sent to rescue a sinking yacht off Bulli, when the accident had actually happened off Wooli, on the North Coast.When asked whether mistakes such as these could occur with operators unfamiliar with the region handling triple-0 calls, a NSW Police spokeswoman defended the new system."All 30 operators who have been trained to receive triple-0 calls have considerable experience in call taking in the police environment," the spokeswoman said."Their new skills received during their triple-0 training can only enhance the service provided to the community of NSW."
© 2005 Illawarra Mercury
