CI Air Search and Rescue Team Visit Control Centre
Volunteers from the CI Air Search and Rescue
team were recently invited to find out what happens at the other
end of the phone when they are called out to an emergency.
The control centre, which is run out of Sure’s
Centenary House, receives all emergency calls and acts to
immediately contact and co-ordinate the crew of the CI Air Search
and Rescue team including the pilot, a search director and three
observers.
Jacqui Hamblin, Head of Contact Centre, invited
the volunteers from the CI Air Search to the centre for drinks so
that they could see how the operation works.
They had the chance to talk to the people who
take the emergency calls and get a better idea of what happens at
their end.
Eddie Saints, Chief Executive for Cable &
Wireless Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Bermuda, was very
impressed by the relationship the contact centre has with the
rescue service.
‘The two teams work very closely together in
the event of an emergency, often under great pressure, and
understanding each other’s needs and how they can improve their
service is vital to the efficient running of the service,’ he
said.
Colin Ferbrache, Chief Officer CI Air Search,
credited the service given to the crew by the contact centre.
‘The contact centre is an integral part of our
call out procedure,’ he said.
‘Its role is to achieve a full crew of pilot,
search director and three observers and if this is not achieved
with the incoming calls, crew members are telephoned to fill the
positions ringing home, office or mobile as appropriate. On
achieving a full crew the Signal Station is informed and the "Crew
Complete" signal is sent out on the group pager. It is very rare
that I reach the airport before this call goes out which is of
great credit to the ability of the operators in the centre. I would
like to extend my thanks to the staff for being such an important
and most effective part of the Air Search response.’
The CI Air Search is manned by volunteers and is an essential
service to the islands. They have been operating for 21 years and
are the islands’ ‘lifeboat in the sky’.