999 call-taker insights

I hope everyone is keeping safe and well during what I am sure is a difficult time for us all. As students, we have been temporarily withdrawn from placements and face-to-face lectures have been moved online for the foreseeable future. However, our local trust has given us the opportunity to undertake paid employment with them to help meet the expected demand caused by the coronavirus outbreak. These roles were based in the 111 service or emergency operations centre (EOC) as part of the 999 service around the region. I was placed in EOC as a 999 call taker answering emergency calls from the public and health professionals.

We started with an intense 2-week training course to familiarise ourselves with the dispatch system used by the ambulance service to triage calls. We also learned about the system C3, which is where we can see the calls and locations of the ambulances, and search for addresses. The training involved lots and lots of scenarios to prepare us for the different challenges of taking calls and provide us with the understanding and confidence needed to manage these! We were then introduced into the live environment with a mentor watching over us for five shifts before being signed off to take calls on our own. The mentors in the EOC were just as brilliant and knowledgeable as the mentors out on the road, which shows the quality of staff that the ambulance service employs!