ACT Policing has announced they are proud to support the free new Emergency+ smartphone application (app) which launched in this week.
The new app, developed by Fire and Rescue NSW and the Triple Zero Awareness Working Group, is endorsed by all police jurisdictions and was launched in Sydney this week by the Federal Minister for Justice, The Hon Michael Keenan MP.
Sixty five per cent of calls to the emergency Triple Zero (000) number are made from mobile phones, with many people unsure of their exact location. This makes it difficult for Triple Zero operators to accurately and quickly dispatch emergency services.
The Emergency+ app offers callers the ability to verbally provide emergency operators with their location information as determined by their smartphone’s GPS functionality.
Several years ago, many years before the prevalence of smartphones and apps a friend and I were one of the first on the scene of a very serious truck accident on the way to Sydney. A couple of kilometres north of McDonald’s at Sutton Forest we approached a bridge and I noticed two men running along the bridge and looking over the railing. I also noticed a lot of debris and diesel all over the road. I pointed out to my friend that I think someone has gone off the bridge. We immediately pulled over and ran over to where we noticed the other two were looking over the edge of the bridge. Sure enough down in a deep ravine a B-Double lay on it’s side with the cab smashed up against one of the pylons. The other two had started to make their way down the steep decline the side the truck had slid down, my friend down the opposite side. I called out to them if they had called emergency services yet. They replied back no and asked for me to do it. I called 000 immediately and the operator asked which service was required, I exclaimed “All!”. This is then where it got challenging trying to describe our location with no crossroad. All I could tell them was I was on the Hume Highway north of McDonald’s Sutton Forest. I ran to where there was a sign for which creek this bridge was crossing. This was the best I could manage at the time, this smartphone app would have made a big difference!
My friend returned from being unable to make it down to the truck but the other two had made it to check on the driver. We began to clear debris off the road and slow traffic down. After a little while a Police paddy wagon was driving down the highway which I flagged down the Officer wasn’t aware of the situation so he called in the incident. Not long after this all emergency services appeared on the scene. I always wonder if it wasn’t for this Officer coming along when he did how much longer emergency services would have been. This new app will make it easier to give more accurate location details to emergency services.
This new app also provides users with the contact numbers and a short explanation of when to call ‘non-emergency’ numbers such as the Police Assistance Line (131 444) and the State Emergency Service (SES) national call centre (13 2500).
ACT Policing Operations receives on average 2200 calls to the Triple Zero (000) number per month. An estimated 50 per cent of those calls should have been directed to a non-emergency number such as Crime Stoppers, the Police Assistance Line or Canberra Connect.
ACT Policing Operations Superintendent Kenton Turner says the app is a very useful tool for both the user, and for emergency responders. He urges the ACT community to download the app and be familiar with its functionality before they need it in an emergency.
“Once downloaded, the key functions to the app are the speed at which people can connect to either Triple Zero or the Police Assistance line, and the ability to pass on their exact location. Callers who are uncertain as to their location or in unfamiliar surroundings can then be auto-located via our system. Anything that can assist us to reach people faster is great news for us,” Superintendent Turner said.
“We want the Canberra community to receive the best service from our Police Operations, but we need you to help us by knowing the right number to call first.”
The Emergency+ app is available free of charge, on iOS and Android devices through the Google Play store and Apple App Store.
For more information about the app and what emergency numbers to call visit our Emergency+ app page http://www.police.act.gov.au/contact/emergency-app.aspx
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