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Reach
Issue 8 2015
Ensuring the best
possible service
to the public
M
ore and more people enjoy
the beaches and the sea
for leisure, RNLI crews
and lifeguards are responding to
an increased number of incidents.
In 2013 alone there were more than
8,300 lifeboat launches, and their
lifeguards attended more than
19,500 incidents.
The dangers are not just on the
coast. The RNLI Flood Rescue Team
is available 24 hours a day, seven
days a week, to deploy to flooding
events in the UK, Ireland and abroad
to perform search and rescue and
assist in the humanitarian aid effort.
The team comprises volunteer crews
from all around the RNLI, who have
been specially trained for the risks
involved when working in or around
fast moving flood water.
The team was formed in 2000
following an international deployment
to Mozambique, and can deploy up
to 16 teams which are strategically
positioned at the five RNLI regional
bases to respond to a flood anywhere
in the UK within six hours.
The RNLI has used Airwave’s
Emergency Service Network (ESN)
since 2007, and in a previous edition
of Reach we reported on how they
helped residents across Great Britain
who were affected by the flooding
caused by the severe weather of
winter 2013/14. With the support of an
express delivery of additional handheld
terminals, the flood rescue team were
able to communicate with the Fire
and Rescue Services coordinating the
numerous rescue efforts.
Previously the RNLI has used
Airwave’s ESN when marine VHF and
mobile phone coverage has been
poor or non-existent – particularly
on the west coast of Scotland. The
Airwave Service is also used in areas
where interoperability with other
public safety agencies is important,
such as the River Thames in London
where communications with the
London Coastguard and other
agencies needs to be seamless.
Now the charity is extending its
use of Airwave’s ESN, and will have
resilient and reliable communications
in other key locations across Great
Britain. Airwave enables wide area
communications – a far better option
in an urban flooding environment
than marine VHF which is limited
by range and geography, or mobile
phones which tend not to work well
in flooded areas.
The additional handheld terminals
are currently being delivered to the
regional RNLI bases across the country,
and will enable the charity’s volunteers
and staff to be better prepared and
have full interoperable communications
with the emergency services during
multi-agency flood deployments.
“Reliable communications are vital
for us – our investment in Airwave
will give us better interoperability
and better command and control
capability, enabling our volunteers to
work seamlessly together and with
the other public safety agencies to
ensure the best possible service to
the public,” said Paul Fisher, Acting
Staff Officer Operations – Comms,
Nav & Surveillance Systems, RNLI.
The expansion of the service to the
RNLI is being delivered hand-in-hand
with a structured Airwave training
programme to ensure the new RNLI
users get the best possible start with
their new communications.
Airwave’s End User Engagement
(EUE) team attended the training
sessions organised by the RNLI in
strategic regional locations for their
volunteers. The EUE team gave an
overview of Airwave, the benefits of
the service, and takes users step-
by-step through the features of the
terminals so each user is comfortable
with making and receiving calls.
The RNLI has also asked Airwave
to deliver a training package to
the RNLI’s own trainers to ensure
that knowledge of the service is
as comprehensive as possible
throughout the charity.
Andy Glover, Lead Client Director,
Airwave said: “The way that we are
rolling out this expansion shows
the value of a true partnership. The
coordinated training sessions work
really well, and we are learning as well
as advising, giving us and our other
customers the opportunity to benefit
from the RNLI’s best practices.”
The RNLI is the charity that saves lives at sea. It provides a 24-hour on call lifeboat search
and rescue service and a seasonal lifeguard service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824,
its lifeboats, and since 2001, lifeguards have saved more than 140,000 lives.
