03.09
Northern Star, The; Lismore, N.S.W., Jan 4, 2010
THE plight of Pimlico houseboat skipper Barry Glass and his frustration at not being able to hail an ambulance during last week’s emergency at Mobbs Bay in Ballina highlights an interesting conundrum.
In the good old days, when good Samaritans phoned an ambulance from the local pay phone, operators had no trouble locating where they placed the call – even if the rescuer making the call panicked and hung up before giving their whereabouts.
But in today’s world no one uses a pay phone. Instead, everyone reaches for their mobile phone, no matter if they are on the highway, out bush or in the middle of the Richmond River.
So why isn’t an emergency operator in Newcastle able to call an ambulance when someone requests one from such an unusual location?
It has to do with protocol.
A respected paramedic I talked to explained it like this: An operation needs a clear plan, and there is no point sending an ambulance on a wild goose chase unless a clear destination is known.
In the case of the houseboat skipper, he should have picked up his marine radio handset and called the Coast Guard on VHF Channel 16. The volunteer on the other end would have known the correct code number of the boat landing where the skipper was headed and an ambulance would have been dispatched immediately.
The message? Next time you go boating, note the code number of your local boat ramp. It’s posted on a yellow triangular sign
houseboats
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