Country people lose faith in emergency call centres

Rural communities have a "culture of mistrust" about the 111 emergency telephone system's ability to handle a rural emergency, a national farmers lobbyist has told high-ranking overseas police officers.

"Nearly two-thirds of members who responded to a survey doubted the ability of 111 centres to generate an adequate response to a rural emergency," said a federation vice-president, Charlie Pedersen, who farms near Foxton. The survey covered 350 families.

Mr Pedersen said police needed to give higher priority to emergencies that could lead to armed conflict, and that emergency helicopters could be used to respond to priority incidents, additional to their work in medical emergencies.

Mr Pedersen yesterday presented submissions to the external inquiry ordered by Police Commissioner Rob Robinson after complaints that police handling of 111 calls had been botched.

Outside the inquiry, he said that if an intruder was in a rural home, it was not much use dialling the police if they were an hour away.

"We know of people who've given up dialling 111 and they've rung helicopter services," he said.

The inquiry, headed by Chief Superintendent Michael Corboy, from New South Wales, is looking into call management policies and procedures, and interactions between call centres and police in the field.

Superintendent Ruth Purdie, from North Wales, and Acting Deputy Chief Emory Gilbert, from Toronto, are also participating in the inquiry, which is expected to be completed this month.

Mr Pedersen spoke on the federation's written submission yesterday to the review panel in Wellington, and made a dozen specific recommendations on how to restore confidence in the system.

He said the three 111 call centres should immediately inform local police and other relevant services, and that there was a "desperate need" for technology to quickly identify the location of 111 calls.

"We also want a review of the 'locking lines open' policy which prevents 111 callers from hanging up and calling their neighbours or others to help in an emergency," Mr Pedersen said.

After robbers brutally bashed businessman Peter Bentley during a home invasion at his Bay of Plenty farm last year, his wife, Maggie Bentley, said the emergency 111 operator refused to free up her phone line so she could call her neighbours.

Mr Pedersen recommended that if possible, local police and/or emergency services should be contacted immediately so that the service which was geographically closest was the first informed.

There was a need to formalise the Rural Address Property Identification numbering system which gives every rural property with a dwelling a unique address, and other technology such as maps using satellite positioning should be investigated.

Communications centre staff needed to be trained in specific rural responses, so that all possible resources could be used in rural emergencies. Federated Farmers also proposed an alternative national response number for "lower priority" calls.

Emergency fears

A Federated Farmers survey showed:

64 per cent of people who replied had no confidence in the 111 service handling a rural emergency.
57 per cent would not dial 111 as a first port of call.
In practice, 23 per cent had called someone else - local emergency services or neighbours - before calling 111.