An app now being rolled out by Nottinghamshire Police could help officers reach people in isolated parts of Gedling borough quicker.
The app, what3words, divides the world into a grid of three-metre squares, which are converted from co-ordinators into a three-word address.
It is hoped the app will make it easier and quicker for people across Gedling borough to share a precise location in an emergency, helping police better serve their rural communities.
The solution can be particularly effective for emergencies in rural locations like farms, fields or wooded areas where it can be complex, imprecise and difficult to communicate location without any addresses or points of reference nearby. And even in a well-addressed town or city, the person in distress may not be familiar with their surroundings, or able to share a location with accuracy.
Superintendent Paul Burrows, from Nottinghamshire Police’s Contact Management department, said: “If you didn’t know where you were you might turn to your phone to try and locate yourself via a pin on a map – but imagine trying to describe your pin to someone over a 999 call.
“In these moments, emergency services are forced to waste precious time and resources just trying to locate the person in need of help. At best, this can be frustrating, and at worst waste crucial minutes that are the difference between life and death.
“Now, in an emergency where a location is difficult to describe, callers are able to give their 3 word address from the what3words app.”
“We are moving away from the old style questioning – ‘Where have you come from?’, ‘Where are you going?’, ‘What can you see?’
“These questions take time and aren’t always that accurate. Asking for a 3 word address has meant we have saved valuable time locating incidents.
“The Control Room staff that have used what3words for an emergency call, have said how easy it is, and they were able to find the location a lot quicker than they previously would have.”
Chris Sheldrick, co-founder and CEO of what3words, added: “Being in need of urgent help and not being able to easily describe where you are can be very distressing for the person involved and a really difficult situation for emergency services. Today people nearly always have their phone on them.
“We need to use the tools at our disposal to improve public services and potentially save lives. Just as you may have your In Case of Emergency contacts set up on your phone, we encourage everyone to download the app to make sure they are ready to quickly share accurate location information, should the worst happen.
“It’s free, it’s simple to use, and one day it might make sure you get the help you need, when you need it.
“We are continuing to work with emergency services across the country to get what3words enabled in their control rooms and to encourage the public to understand how to find and share their 3 word address so that they can be found quickly when they need it most.
“It’s been incredible to see UK police forces embrace technology to respond effectively and quickly to people in need.”
