Dundee call handlers for the world’s oldest emergency phone service are celebrating 80 years of answering the nation’s 999 calls.
The centre’s staff of around 100 receive and direct more than 4 million emergency calls from across the UK a year, passing on both serious and curious inquiries to fire, police and ambulance services in less than 35 seconds.
The 999 service is celebrating its 80th anniversary after being established before the outbreak of the Second World War.
Dundee’s centre staff will be holding a special celebration event on Friday afternoon, where guest of honour Edna McCrodden – who started her long career with BT in 1956 at a GPO exchange in Montrose – has been invited to cut a celebration cake.
Mrs McCrodden will also tour the modern facility, comparing how the role and requirements of a phone operator has evolved since her retirement at the turn of the century.
Line manager Elaine Marr, who answered the first 999 call directed to Dundee when the service moved to the centre in 2012, congratulated her team for continuing to provide an excellent service.
She said: “Our team of staff are an incredibly dedicated group. With recent events, we had staff members coming in for extra work, offering their services to handle the extra workload and helping one another through trying times.
“Our full-time call handlers will answer and direct an average of around 600 calls on a shift, with the aim of placing the call to the correct emergency service within 31 seconds.
“This can be done in as quick as seven seconds, but it will all depend on the nature of the call and how the caller is handling the situation.
“We will be having a celebration on Friday to mark 999’s 80th anniversary and will be visited by an old colleague, Edna McCrodden, who started her working life as a telephone operator for the General Post Office at their exchange building in Montrose in 1956.
“We are looking forward to showing her how the service has changed, as well as her cutting the cake at a small party we are holding.”
The 999 service was introduced in 1937 after a fatal fire which killed five women in a doctors surgery prompted the government to form a committee, tasked with looking at how to identify emergency calls more efficiently.
Scotland’s handling centres are located in Dundee and Glasgow, and between them answer more than 9 million calls per year.
Brendan Dick, BT Scotland director, said: “Recent events in the UK mean people are acutely aware of the work of the emergency services and the value of the 999 service.
“I am extremely proud of the BT operators and their role in 999. They are an extremely capable and committed team working at the sharp end of the most important communication services in the country.
“Countless lives have been saved in Scotland over the last 80 years because of their professionalism and dedication.”
Odd Calls handlers have to deal with
Emergency call handlers have to be able to direct millions of potential life and death scenarios every year, but not every inquiry that comes through counts as an emergency.
The following list details some of the more obscure calls centre staff receive on a daily basis:
Advisor: “Do you need fire, police or ambulance?”
Caller: “I’m sorry to call 999 but I was looking for 101 but I don’t know the number.”
Advisor: “Do you need fire, police or ambulance?”
Young caller: “Mountain Rescue please.”
Advisor: “Where are you?”
Young caller: “I’m on the top bunk and I can’t get down.”
Advisor: “Do you need fire, police or ambulance?”
Caller: “I need the police please it is my daughter’s wedding day and her dress doesn’t fit anymore. I need the police to come and help me get her in it.”
Ambulance advisor: “Is the patient breathing?”
Caller: “Yes but he’s Russian.”
Advisor: “Do you need fire, police or ambulance?”
Caller: “I need the police, I ordered a takeaway that cost me £30 and they took it to number six, when I live at number seven.”
Advisor: “Do you need fire, police or ambulance?”
Caller: “My laptop password won’t work, I need you to reset it for me.”
Advisor: “That’s not something we can help with.”
Caller: “Can you call my service provider and get them to ring me back?”
Advisor: “Do you need fire, police or ambulance?”
Caller: “I need an ambulance, my husband has lost his pyjamas and he cannot breathe without them.”
Advisor: “Do you need fire, police or ambulance?”
Caller: “Well it’s quite urgent my rabbit has escaped, I need help.”
Advisor: “Do you need fire, police or ambulance?”
Caller: “There is someone watching me in the garden. Oh it’s a garden gnome. ”
Advisor: “Do you need fire, police or ambulance?”
Caller: “My Dad won’t give me twenty pounds to go out with my mates, I need a lift home.”
Advisor: “Do you need fire, police or ambulance?”
Caller: “My back door keeps opening and shutting.
Advisor: “Did you see the intruder?”
Caller: “No, it’s a ghost.”
Advisor: “Do you need fire, police or ambulance?”
Caller: “Can I get the Police, someone has stolen my snowman from my garden, can you come quickly?”
Advisor: “Do you need fire, police or ambulance?”
Caller: “There’s a seagull with a broken arm.”
Advisor: “Do you need fire, police or ambulance?”
Caller: “I’m going out and need someone to feed my cats.”
Advisor: “Do you need fire, police or ambulance?”
Caller: “Please send all three, there’s a man on my roof with a fish tank.”
Advisor: “Do you need fire, police or ambulance?”
Caller: “I need to cancel my hairdressers’ appointment, it’s an emergency and I can’t get through to the salon.”
