There are very few hard and fast rules associated with emergency situations, but one could be that emergencies aren’t restricted by geographic borders, and to make sure its responses aren’t, the fire and rescue services of the English counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Hertfordshire have completed the roll-out of a shared command centre.
The pressure faced by the UK’s fire and rescue services continues to grow. Agencies are increasingly required to do more with less, and there is great attraction in using a resilient, scalable comms and IT system model to help serve and protect communities services by having a better way to connect, coordinate and respond.
Together, the three fire and rescue services (FRS) in Norfolk, Suffolk and Hertfordshire cover more than 100 stations and protect over 2.5 million people. The cloud-based command centre platform, delivered by Motorola Solutions, supports both independent agency operations and joint efforts, ensuring better communication and collaboration in critical, cross-county moments.
The cloud-based Guardian Hub command centre platform is deigned to empower the FRS to jointly manage 999 calls, dispatch crews and track incidents in mutual aid scenarios.
The system is designed to support independent agency operations for daily response, while enabling “seamless” collaboration between agencies across the lifecycle of an incident at a moment’s notice.
Bringing control room operations into a single shared hub means the three services can collaborate more closely during major incidents, reducing duplication and strengthening resilience across county lines.
In addition to being able to accelerate response times and bolster the region’s resiliency, bringing the three fire and rescue teams together with the common command centre technology is also seen as being able to let them cut costs, easing pressures on call handlers. That is, it also removes the need for each FRS to maintain separate IT.
Darren Cook, assistant chief fire officer at Hertfordshire FRS, said: “Working closely with Norfolk and Suffolk is already leading to more efficient and effective responses, and the chance to share knowledge on how we’re using this new technology has been incredibly valuable. Within hours of the hub going live, we saw the benefits, as Suffolk FRS operators took calls and managed dispatch for Hertfordshire FRS during a large structure fire incident.”
Scott Norman, deputy chief fire officer at Norfolk FRS, said: “During extreme weather events and major fires, it’s crucial that we can share call handling and frontline resources with neighbouring FRSs. The system gives us visibility into our partners’ ongoing incidents to mobilise our own crews faster and respond more effectively. Ultimately, we can provide a better service for our community, when and where they need it.”
Jon Lacey, chief fire officer at Suffolk FRS, added: “Our work can often be a matter of life or death – we needed a system which would hit the ground running and enable entirely new ways of working with our neighbouring FRSs.
“Motorola Solutions fit the bill perfectly. The Hub model has already proven its value with call handlers able to manage extremely high call volumes and allowing each FRS to seamlessly provide additional support when needed. We’ve also found unexpected benefits, such as allowing all control room staff to take part in planned training exercises, without disrupting active operations.”
