"Robin" wrote in message
...
On 09/08/2019 16:15, NY wrote:

Even before that, I'd expect an emergency control room to have all the
paper OS maps, maybe unfolded, laminated and mounted on boards for extra
durability, for the area that they cover. (*)

I suggest it is mobile phones which cause many of the problems. Before
they came along the location of the landline was known to the 999 operator
who could pass it on the the services, and most callers would have been
able to say what they had done to get /to/ the phone from which the
services could work back.

True, but mobile phones have also reduced the time between the incident
occurring and the phone call to the emergency services, because people don't
have to start searching for a public phone. And a panic, I wonder how many
people can give correct instructions of where the incident is in relation to
the phone.

With a GPS fix (lat/long or OS, depending on what software is on your phone)
the emergency services in the 21 century should be able to pinpoint you.
Most in-car satnavs have an emergency-services-location menu option (for
those people who bother to work out where it is), and I always have my phone
with GPS turned on, so it only takes a few seconds to start GPS Status
(other apps are available!) to give a readout in OS "AB 1234 5678" format.

I've heard conflicting stories about how much information about your
location is sent by a mobile phone when you make a 999 call: some people say
a full GPS reference is sent (assuming GPS is turned on at the phone), some
people say the phone estimates its position roughly from knowing which masts
it is near, and some people say that no info is sent. I know when my wife
called 999 to report an emergency while I was driving, the operator knew
exactly where we were and said "you're passing a side-road to X... now!"
even before my wife had said where she was. That suggests an accurate and
frequently-updated position is passed to them.