When you call the emergency service at least two operators are
involved. Firstly the BT operated 999 service operator takes the call
and decides which of the 4 services (fire, police, ambulance,
coastguard) to allocate it to. They will contact the appropriate
closest service to the caller and pass any location information they
have. If the local service is busy it will be passed to the next
nearest which may not be much use.

The specific emergency service finds out where you are and what the
problem is and allocates responders.

If you are calling from a fixed line phone they know where you are.
Calling from a mobile the preferred location information is Postcode
because almost everyone knows it (Postcode is used in over 99% of
emergency calls). Failing that address (as in 67 Firtree Lane,
BIggleswade) is preferred.

After that you are in varying degrees of trouble and the chances of
getting the right people to the right place in less than a few days
starts growing. Emergency services are regional and different regions
and different services use different systems.

Police tend to like road name and description, Coastguard like range
and bearing from a prominent point. Some can use lat/long - but which
one? degrees, minutes, and seconds such as 40° 26' 46? N 79° 58' 56?
W,? degrees and decimal minutes, 40° 26.767' N 79° 58.933' W? or
decimal degrees such as 40.446° N 79.982° W. ?

OSGB - but SO 08357 43962 or 308357243962? or 083439?

UTM? 30U 0476779 5770702
MGRS 30UVC76777070

Some ambulance services use the OSGB grid reference - but in the all
number format 308357243962 which is both uncommon and very prone to
transcription errors.

Google maps favours the "plus code" which no one understands "3MP7+FQ
Builth Wells"


Good points but you'd have thought by now that there would be a
standardised location system that for instance could be incorporated in
a mobile that when you made a 112 or 999 call then that info was
transmitted to the emergency services so they'd know exactly were you
are rightaway without any fuss to which standard you were using?..

This what three words system seems over complicated for what it is there
are plenty of GPS enabled apps for mobiles indeed car sat navs should
have an located emergency option easy to get to when needed that uses
probably the simplest and that in my mind is decimal Lat and Long

Ever two letter NGR with six digits is good to within a 100 metres
accuracy much better then to trying to get a street address or Postcode
what Wally dreamt that up?.


--
Tony Sayer


Man is least himself when he talks in his own person.

Give him a keyboard, and he will reveal himself.