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ESJCR welcomes Royal visitor 17 October 2008  HRH the Duke of York visited one of the jewels in the Isle of Man Government’s crown earlier this afternoon.
Prince Andrew enjoyed a guided tour of the emergency services joint control room (ESJCR) and a demonstration of the integrated communications system. The Communications Division, which is part of the Department of Home Affairs, is a world leader in this sector having established the TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio) system and ESJCR in April 2004. The ESJCR is the envy of emergency service providers throughout the world and has handled more than five million TETRA calls and 70,000 emergency 999 calls in the past four years. Whereas most countries have separate control rooms to deal with police, fire and ambulance 999 calls, the Isle of Man has a single integrated system that allows everything to be handled under one roof. This means that officers from all three emergency services can be dispatched immediately to the same incident – such as a road traffic collision – thereby saving time and lives. The integrated system has become one of the Island’s biggest success stories and is held up as best practice within the industry. Delegations from the UK, Europe, Middle East and Far East have visited Communications House in recent years and the ESJCR today received the royal seal of approval. Prince Andrew, accompanied by Lieutenant Governor Sir Paul Haddacks, was introduced to Home Affairs Minister Hon Adrian Earnshaw MHK and members of the department during his visit. Communications Division Technical Director Robert Williamson highlighted the benefits of the integrated system during a presentation in the Gold Control Room before Operations Manager Bill McCann conducted a tour of the ESJCR. Prince Andrew chatted to staff and saw the system in operation as members of the emergency services were dispatched to respond to a live incident unfolded. More stories >>>
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