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how do emergency services find you

  • 09-05-2012 9:16pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 854 ✭✭✭


    Im pretty sure there's not but is there any online database that you can go onto, find your house and attach your name to it so that when you ring emergency services you can say the general area or location of your house and then your name and then they can find your house through the database. It would be awful hard explaining were I live in an er situation.!


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Comments

  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,663 ✭✭✭Cork24


    GPS mainly..

    The Emergency Services can lock onto a Mobile phone..

    other then that no their is no DATABASE that they can search your name.

    i had a cop flying up and down the road once looking for a house..


  • Registered Users Posts: 854 ✭✭✭tacofries


    Good to know about the phone tracking. I would find it awful hard explaining to them where I live and even with perfect directions they'd still probably get it wrong!!!!

    Thanks Cork


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,333 ✭✭✭Zambia


    Put big house numbers on your house and have the council sign post your street


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,626 ✭✭✭timmywex


    Cork24 wrote: »
    GPS mainly..

    The Emergency Services can lock onto a Mobile phone..
    .

    Maybe in America/CSI yeh*....

    Its local knowledge using landmarks etc & good old fashioned maps. Garda cars/ambulances/fire vehicles don't carry gps by the most part



    *im aware this can be done, but not for emergency calls, phone providers have to be contacted etc


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,938 ✭✭✭deadwood


    Since the mid 1990's, fancy joined up writing and hearing in at least one ear (known in e.s. parlance as the "phone ear") is a requirement for most e.s.jobs. Only those who are proficient in both, simultaneously, are permitted to talk to the public for emergency matters. Some people watch a little too much 24.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,663 ✭✭✭Cork24


    timmywex wrote: »
    Maybe in America/CSI yeh*....

    Its local knowledge using landmarks etc & good old fashioned maps. Garda cars/ambulances/fire vehicles don't carry gps by the most part



    *im aware this can be done, but not for emergency calls, phone providers have to be contacted etc


    Ambulances do carry GPS,, brother is an EMT,
    the friend is a Garda i brought a nice GPS off him before


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,451 ✭✭✭Delancey


    When I worked as an Eircom 999 operator we could look up a phone number and in the case of landlines get an address from that.

    What was really shocking were the number of calls from Emergency Companies by that I mean companies that organise a response to panic alarms , etc. They would give an address in some townland but had nil direction to offer - seems they were happy to take the money they were being paid but couldn't be bothered getting direction to their customers homes.
    Unprofessional muppets for the most part.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 318 ✭✭audidiesel


    suppose the electoral register would possibly be of some assistance.

    but the reality is, local knowledge and/or directions.

    theres no general use database in existance.

    as said, ambulance and firebrigades usually have gps. with the guards, you just have to hope one of us has an iphone with google maps


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,221 ✭✭✭BrianD


    tacofries wrote: »
    Im pretty sure there's not but is there any online database that you can go onto, find your house and attach your name to it so that when you ring emergency services you can say the general area or location of your house and then your name and then they can find your house through the database. It would be awful hard explaining were I live in an er situation.!

    I presume that you have an address?? That's what you use :)

    Assuming that you are in a rural area...

    Just like having an evacuation plan for your house, now would be a good time to find the road number that you live - it will be an N, R or L

    Have a good concise direction to give the emergency from a local landmark. keep it simply - Irish people are notorious for giving out complex directions.


  • Registered Users Posts: 81 ✭✭Hightower21


    Cork24 wrote: »
    Ambulances do carry GPS,, brother is an EMT,
    the friend is a Garda i brought a nice GPS off him before

    eh.... no they dont.
    Mind you I have a smart phone. that sometimes helps. some of my paramedic friends carry there own gps. and half the time the address wont work on them.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 73 ✭✭999nobody


    audidiesel wrote: »
    suppose the electoral register would possibly be of some assistance.

    but the reality is, local knowledge and/or directions.

    theres no general use database in existance.

    as said, ambulance and firebrigades usually have gps. with the guards, you just have to hope one of us has an iphone with google maps

    No they don't, some off us bring our own sat nav to work with us or the trusty iphone.
    Normally we're looking for the red bungalow after the left hand bend just before the hill


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,864 ✭✭✭langdang


    Invest in a massive spotlight OP
    bat-signal.jpg
    Not so good on a clear night but that's rare enough...


  • Registered Users Posts: 81 ✭✭Hightower21


    or the 4th bunglow on the left after the pump,
    or the house not facing the road!


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,882 ✭✭✭JuliusCaesar


    Zambia wrote: »
    Put big house numbers on your house and have the council sign post your street

    I have been looking for ages for numbers in silouette which I can paste to the inside of the porch glass, so that they can be easily seen from the outside, especially visible at night when I have the hall light on. Can't find any, except ones which stick to the outside of the glass and thus are exposed to all the dirt.
    I'm not an EM person, I seem to have to go - often enough- to people's houses for parties and end up driving up and down roads trying to see house numbers from the car.

    This kind of thing but not so fancy, in case anyone can point me to the right retailler! :p


  • Registered Users Posts: 923 ✭✭✭coolmoose


    Cork24 wrote: »
    Ambulances do carry GPS,, brother is an EMT,
    the friend is a Garda i brought a nice GPS off him before
    audidiesel wrote: »
    as said, ambulance and firebrigades usually have gps

    No they don't - some RRVs do, but ambulance's don't unless crew bring their own - or use Google maps - good ol' Google maps, if it wasn't for it the ambulance service would be driving around in circles half the time!

    Best thing anyone can do is BIG letters or numbers on door and pillar of house, lights on, door open, and stand someone outside waving/with a torch at night. Or better yet, meet us somewhere obvious in a car if the directions are complicated and we'll follow you home!


  • Registered Users Posts: 923 ✭✭✭coolmoose


    Cork24 wrote: »
    GPS mainly..

    The Emergency Services can lock onto a Mobile phone..

    Afraid this is wrong too in real-life Emergency Services land!


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,532 ✭✭✭A2LUE42


    Know of one instance where an ambulance had to wait at a location they were aware of(a health centre) while someone in the house where they were supposed to be going to had to drive to there and then have the ambulance follow them to the correct location. Same thing happened with a burglary in the same area, where the Gardai had to have someone do the same to get them to the house, as they couldn't find it, in the middle of the night.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,532 ✭✭✭A2LUE42


    It was one of the main reasons that NAMA agreed to put up the missing signposts..


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,221 ✭✭✭BrianD


    A2LUE42 wrote: »
    It was one of the main reasons that NAMA agreed to put up the missing signposts..

    What missing sign posts?

    All the post codes in the world won't help an emergency vehicle driving down lane ways in the dark of night.

    Everybody should have a clear and concise address and directions to get there from a major route or landmark.

    As the other poster says, if the situation allows it is a good idea to send an advance party out to meet the emergency services and guide them.

    BTW what sort of maps do emergency vehicles carry?


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,152 ✭✭✭ratracer


    BrianD wrote: »
    What missing sign posts?

    All the post codes in the world won't help an emergency vehicle driving down lane ways in the dark of night.

    Everybody should have a clear and concise address and directions to get there from a major route or landmark.

    As the other poster says, if the situation allows it is a good idea to send an advance party out to meet the emergency services and guide them.

    BTW what sort of maps do emergency vehicles carry?

    Last night i went to a call in an urban area. The householder decided to come out of the estate to meet us. He parked his car on the road facing us with his headlights on. He was dressed in dark clothes and stood between us and his car. Hardly saw him in the glare of his lights. He may have thought he was helping us, but damn near got himself run over. Don't dazzle oncoming vehicles with headlights.!!


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  • Registered Users Posts: 2,532 ✭✭✭A2LUE42


    BrianD wrote: »
    What missing sign posts?

    All the post codes in the world won't help an emergency vehicle driving down lane ways in the dark of night.

    Everybody should have a clear and concise address and directions to get there from a major route or landmark.

    As the other poster says, if the situation allows it is a good idea to send an advance party out to meet the emergency services and guide them.

    BTW what sort of maps do emergency vehicles carry?

    large estate with some of the internal link roads missing. Thank you Ger O'Rourke :rolleyes:


  • Registered Users Posts: 73 ✭✭999nobody


    BrianD wrote: »
    What missing sign posts?

    All the post codes in the world won't help an emergency vehicle driving down lane ways in the dark of night.

    Everybody should have a clear and concise address and directions to get there from a major route or landmark.

    As the other poster says, if the situation allows it is a good idea to send an advance party out to meet the emergency services and guide them.

    BTW what sort of maps do emergency vehicles carry?

    Ambulances are not supplied with any maps !!!!!


  • Registered Users Posts: 923 ✭✭✭coolmoose


    999nobody wrote: »
    Ambulances are not supplied with any maps !!!!!

    This is true, most crews will have their own book of maps, sometimes the local taxi companies will have a fast-finder type directions booklet that can be bought, otherwise it's a paper map of the city, Google Maps on your phone, hopefully some kind of directions and hope for the best!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,357 ✭✭✭Eru


    Cork24 wrote: »
    The Emergency Services can lock onto a Mobile phone..
    Cork24 wrote: »
    Ambulances do carry GPS,, brother is an EMT,
    the friend is a Garda i brought a nice GPS off him before

    Proof indeed that people who have friends who have a next door neighbour who once met a Garda cannot be relied upon for information

    Mind you, I have a car to sell but that doesn't mean I took home a patrol car.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,443 ✭✭✭FGR


    All the more reason to introduce post codes!

    Imagine the ease of it all by asking the caller to give you their post code..bang it into a GPS and there's the house..!


  • Registered Users Posts: 118 ✭✭irishrgr


    They passed a law over here linking the phone lines to a physical address for emergency purposes. When you ring 911, they get the physical address of the phone line. Law was ammended to require the GPS tracking on mobiles, that took a few years to get the telecoms to do it, but it's more or less going well right now. If you have a VOIP phone, you have to register with the phone company, who are SUPPOSED to digitally link you to 911, but not always the case. All phone bills (land, mobile & VIOP) pay a monthly surcharge of $2.00 to fund this.

    This worked well in cities, but the rural area was still very much a case of "down the road, over the hill and past the white shed..." So, law was ammended AGAIN requiring all local authorities to devise a physical address for all residents outside cities and start putting street signs up, even in the country. This has helped the ES, but the signs are still along way coming as it was not funded.

    Our emergency vehicles are linked to the 911 system, so we have the GPS and moving map display. Once assigned to the call we get directions to the location even if it is just a GPS coordinate. When all this high tech kit goes down, we revert back to the map book and doing it the old fashioned way. Write the address down and look it up in the map and off you go.

    A


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,333 ✭✭✭Zambia


    This is a Melways

    Melway_2010_angle.gif

    Almost every Service from Security to Posties to Paramedics carry one in the car.

    If in Delancys case you sign up to a Security service your Melway reference is established. If you call 000 the call taker will narrow down your Melway by referencing cross streets.

    You always get to roughly the right spot then its down to house numbers.

    That said its a back up now as all police cars have GPS.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,221 ✭✭✭BrianD


    Zambia wrote: »
    This is a Melways

    Melway_2010_angle.gif

    Almost every Service from Security to Posties to Paramedics carry one in the car.

    If in Delancys case you sign up to a Security service your Melway reference is established. If you call 000 the call taker will narrow down your Melway by referencing cross streets.

    You always get to roughly the right spot then its down to house numbers.

    That said its a back up now as all police cars have GPS.

    Unfortunately, that map comes from a country that has a strong tradition of creating accurate addressing. Melways in Melbourne and the A-Z in London are bibles. Take a look at a Melways map and you'll see the exact borders of areas e.g. Carlton North and post code areas. In outback Australia, even remote addresses will have a street numbers. In Ireland have of south Dublin is in Dalkey and in west of Dublin a big chunk of Clondalkin is in Lucan. People are allowed make up addresses as they like.

    Postcodes aren't really that useful for direction or location finding in Australia. However, the strong tradition of "good addressing" benefits everyone including the emergency services.


  • Registered Users Posts: 175 ✭✭d3exile


    maybe some sort of bat signal on the roof?

    working in an area that has urban and rural aspects to it, the rural ones can be very hard to find, not helped by the caller "ah sure it's about a mile down the road passed mickeys house, you know mickey?"

    people knowing the code for their road is a start, the R/L___whatever and house numbers or name clearly visible from the road! if we have those two it's 90% of the battle won!


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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,045 ✭✭✭deaglan169


    as far as i know when you ring 999 they know what phone mast the call is being routed through so at least they can have a rough area if call drops


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