emergency phone provision

[pmiller056]

Here is a recent relevant news story

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-59564480

Local MP's are taking an interest in why things stopped working so quickly and took so long to recover, putting people at risk of serious harm. Ofcom appear to be sticking to their policy decisions regardless of the potential consequences. This show is not yet over....

[Simon Lewis]

I suspect that the "likelihood of power cuts that last more than a few hours times the severity of being without communication" equation has been looked at, and the resultant risk was considered acceptable...

[adam2]

Where I live we had a power cut for a couple of hours. Telephone and internet service ceased after about 20 minutes. This was not due to lack of power at my home since both the router and the cordless telephone base unit are connected to a UPS.

I therefore presume that the power to a street side cabinet failed.

Cellphone service was not available for a couple of days. In case of fire or sudden illness this could be most serious even at home. For a place of public assembly the risks would be greater.

Larger venues at least should perhaps consider a satellite telephone, householders in remote places might wish to consider amateur radio equipment, and power supplies for same.

[adam2]

No telephone service at home for some hours in a recent power cut.

No cellphone service either. 

[Dave m]

BT have apparently put a hold on the process nationally due to issues discovered in the past 12 months.

A girlfriend lived in an old stable and we would frequently go out on an unscheduled cinema visit because her electric went down. Fortunately her mobile worked mostly

[Junior8]

Virgin haven't seemingly - I was notified the other day about the change.

[sunray]

6 hours ago, Junior8 said:

Virgin haven't seemingly - I was notified the other day about the change.

I believe it's only BT that has the safety aspects imposed on them. All the other providers appear to be pushed by OfCom to change over.

[adam2]

I have very little faith in any modern telephone connection working reliably in a power failure. Larger venues may need to consider an Inmarsat satellite telephone. These work anywhere with a good view of the sky and are not reliant on local electricity supplies. The handsets are expensive as are the calls. They do not work reliably indoors, direct sky view needed.

Another and less satisfactory alternative is send a couple of physically fit persons, one to run or cycle to the nearest fire station and the other to the nearest police station. A bit primitive and slow, but better than nothing.

If staff numbers permit send several runners by different routes so as to give protection against sudden illness, getting lost, traffic accidents or other mishaps.

Edited April 26, 2022 by adam2

[Jivemaster]

The issue after you have found and funded a satphone and long term power support is that most of the people you want to call have no phone service either. Consider that your satphone will communicate with a ground station then redirect to your called number but no-one really knows what country your call will first land in, so getting the right emergency 999 desk will not happen. 

While individual effort is commendable the phone system needs it's network running before phones can work.           

Likewise no-one really knows what the ham band usage will be like 

[Brian]

I think that recent events have shown that, for the first hour or more, venues could on their own in the event of an incident.

What's the response time going to be to a major incident in a rural town?

[themadhippy]

Quote

Another and less satisfactory alternative is send a couple of physically fit persons, one to run or cycle to the nearest fire station and the other to the nearest police station.

Lets hope all your incidents  happen when the local station is open.If its between 8pm and 7Am around here youll need a fit runner to complete the 25 + mile  journey to the nearest open station

[adam2]

2 hours ago, Jivemaster said:

The issue after you have found and funded a satphone and long term power support is that most of the people you want to call have no phone service either. Consider that your satphone will communicate with a ground station then redirect to your called number but no-one really knows what country your call will first land in, so getting the right emergency 999 desk will not happen. 

While individual effort is commendable the phone system needs it's network running before phones can work.           

Likewise no-one really knows what the ham band usage will be like 

Satellite telephones are expensive but not hard to find and are reasonably simple to use. They are best pre-programmed with emergency contact numbers. The Inmarsat headquarters in London has elaborate backup power and I have never heard  of any failures.

Any emergency call will be automatically or manually routed to the UK emergency services, presuming that the handset was registered to a UK address. The emergency services have special arrangements to ensure that that they can be contacted in emergencies. Of course any emergency call made whilst visiting another country will still be routed to UK emergency services.

[kerry davies]

Truly rural towns here work on a different time-space continuum, Brian. Last time I heard a police siren close by was 10 years ago. I pulled the van over and a copper leaped out of the passenger door of the squad car, ran up and demanded; "Have you seen the Archbishop of Canterbury? We lost him!" (I had seen him as it turned out.)

We don't have crime since Laurence went straight, the fire service can't recruit retained firemen and it's quicker to drive over the mountains to A&E than wait three hours for an ambulance. We are ahead of you "urbans" in the DiY world heading your way.

Edited April 26, 2022 by kerry davies

[Brian]

53 minutes ago, kerry davies said:

We are ahead of you "urbans" in the DiY world heading your way.

Do you still live in the shadow of Mr Booth's castle? If so, I'm afraid that makes you the Urbanite!!!! Me, I'm just a web-toed fen dweller. 🙃

[adam2]

3 hours ago, Brian said:

I think that recent events have shown that, for the first hour or more, venues could on their own in the event of an incident.

What's the response time going to be to a major incident in a rural town?

Hope that it does not happen.