Accurate incident location in Surrey

Summary

Surrey Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) has built a state-of-the-art dynamic mobilisation system. This will dramatically speed up response times to incidents and help prepare for the switch over to FiReControl, scheduled for 2012.

Key learnings

• Using new technologies and sharing information leads to improved services to citizens
• Working together enables local services to meet national project targets, for the benefit of national and local safety
• Using the common address data in the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) facilitated common goals.

Who was involved?

• Surrey Fire and Rescue Service.
• All the local authority Local Land and Property Gazette (LLPG) custodians in Surrey.

The problems and how we tackled them

The aim of this project was to improve the flexibility and reliability of live information for fire and rescue crews in Surrey. This was also in line with the requirements of the FiReControl project, lead by Communities and Local Government. Improved cooperation and data sharing between the emergency services and local authorities was the way forward. Technical investment in formalised communication processes and development of a web portal to share information has also helped.

Many fire and rescue services are preparing for the FiReControl project. This will provide a network of nine regional control centres (RCCs), replacing the existing 46 standalone centres in England. These will be able to receive calls and mobilise resources from all over the country.

In preparation for the switchover, scheduled for 2012, Surrey Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) has built a state-of-the-art dynamic mobilisation system. This will dramatically reduce response times to incidents.

The system, which went live in December 2008, has a number of components. Each vehicle is fitted with a satellite global positioning system (GPS) and a ‘ruggedised’ computer. This is connected to the command and control centre, sending and receiving data across mobile networks.

The command and control software is designed specifically for the fire service mobilisation crew and includes a live map. This in turn enables staff to see vehicle locations in real time. Once an incident has been reported, the system automatically chooses the nearest, appropriately equipped appliance, based on the incident type.

The system selects crews based on time and distance from an incident. Thus one of the challenges for crews is mobilisation out of area. Previously crews worked on a territory basis but now the system calculates which crews can get there fastest, irrespective of administrative boundaries.

The final component of the system is the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG). This is used as the core source of location information and already mandated for use in the FiReControl project.

Surrey Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) has been working with council gazetteer custodians for more than two years. Increasingly, links with the police and the NHS have been forged. These build on the excellence of the NLPG and further improve the quality of address data.

In addition, SFRS are building a web portal to post changes and update information as it becomes available. Local authority gazetteer custodians will then access the portal to validate and update the NLPG.

Outcomes and impact

Even small things can have a big impact. For example, fire service personnel now have access to much more and better quality data.  This can be sent to a crew while it is on its way to an incident. Thus they can be much better informed about the location they are travelling to. It also improves the crews’ ability to relay intelligence back once they have arrived.

As with any new system there have been significant changes to working processes. The impact of these changes cannot be underestimated. As Carl Walker, System Information Technology Manager at Surrey Fire and Rescue Service, explains:

“We’ve had the mobilisation part of the system in place for a couple of years now, so crews were familiar with the equipment. We understood how the command and control system would work and we understood the data through the migration process to the NLPG. As a result we were able to carry out a fairly detailed impact analysis prior to full deployment.”

“Simply introducing a new system does not solve a problem. In fact it can create many more because it changes the way employees need to work. The business model needs to change to suit the outcome."

“So rather than adapt to the system once it’s in place, teams need to change the way they work so that when they do go live it is business as usual. Surrey FRS were able to prepare for ‘go live’ over a period of months.”

“By and large users of the system have been very positive. They have had time to get used to the in-cab equipment and improved communications. When they are mobile, available and out of station, involved in home fire or community safety, they can receive full incident details at any time. This is received by the in-cab computer. There is no need to write anything down or to consult a map.

“Gone are the days of crackly UHF transceivers and the radio traffic has been cut down dramatically. These benefits are all popular with crews.”

On 13 December 2008, less than 10 days after ‘go live’, a major fire at a supermarket in Banstead, Surrey, proved the efficiency of the new system. As the incident escalated more fire crews were mobilised to contain the blaze and prevent its spread to nearby buildings.

The store location meant that the system mobilised crews from both the London Fire Brigade and Surrey Fire and Rescue Service. More than 50 firefighters fought the blaze but there were no injuries.

Supermarket fire in Banstead – on BBC News website.

Further information

A further case study from the 2008 Exemplar Awards is available on the NLPG website.

NLPG website

Page published October 2009.