Staffordshire and West Midlands Fire Control (S&WMFC) provides a shared service for the two neighbouring Fire Services delivering services to approximately 4 million people across 1,395 square miles and including the major urban areas of Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton and Stoke-on-Trent.
Operating a 24/7 service of four watches comprising 13 staff per watch and a support team of a further six personnel the Control Room handles upwards of 80,000 calls per year. These calls are primarily emergency calls for assistance but the team in the Control Room also schedule the Fire Services’ safe and well checks and perform other non-emergency roles.
Since adopting the 999eye service formally into operational use in May 2017 usage has seen a continual increase month on month to, currently, equate to approximately 5% of all calls taken in the Control Room and is fast becoming an invaluable tool for the operators.
The system is used where appropriate to validate that the correct attendance has been mobilised and, in nearly 10% of cases, used to increase the level of attendance following evaluation of the risk by the operator.
