CRT Commission

[cheesegas]

4 hours ago, Sailbadthesinner said:

Might have been better to call 999 if you needed an ambulance. 111 is for urgent cases that don't require an ambulance.

That’s the most confusing bit - I didn’t need an ambulance, just advice, but they sent one anyway unannounced. Got a phone call from a slightly annoyed ambulance driver out of the blue.

[LadyG]

If I'm in a difficult place to describe I write it in my log book, in case I have to get an ambulance to me, and assuming I might be confused.  Postcode  / vehicular access is usually available  

6 hours ago, Sailbadthesinner said:

Might have been better to call 999 if you needed an ambulance. 111 is for urgent cases that don't require an ambulance.

I would have thought 111 is for non urgent cases. I once got advice via 111 , they had a specialist nurse call me to discuss. 

If I was sure i was in need of immediate urgent care, I'd call 999.

I seem to remember getting a taxi once to A&E, to speed the process.

Another occasion I insisted they sent an ambulance because  I needed their assistance as I could not walk, I was OK to wait till the day shift came on, my first call was at 04.00  

These were incidents over maybe ten years, so I'm not attention seeking.

I've kept an old pair of crutches just in case.

Edited December 16, 2025 by LadyG

[Ronaldo47]

Someone on the radio a year or so mentioned the trouble he had had with the emergency services when an emergency situation arose when he was out hill walking in a remote area. He knew exactly where he was and could state his ordnance survey grid reference, but they said they needed  a postcode.

[Stroudwater1]

On 16/12/2025 at 15:40, Ronaldo47 said:

Someone on the radio a year or so mentioned the trouble he had had with the emergency services when an emergency situation arose when he was out hill walking in a remote area. He knew exactly where he was and could state his ordnance survey grid reference, but they said they needed  a postcode.

Surely the ambulance police and fire brigade have what3word/ grid reference capacity especially in Scotland? Perhaps they contacted the local mountain rescue team. I doubt they necessarily would have the same degree of technical stuff. 
 

Certainly the fire service in Wolverhampton picked what3words up coordinates instantly after checking it was Wolverhampton not Carlisle. That’s the slight  snag with what3words. Mispronunciation and passing the wrong three words onto other parties. 

[ditchcrawler]

34 minutes ago, Stroudwater1 said:

Surely the ambulance police and fire brigade have what3word/ grid reference capacity especially in Scotland? Perhaps they contacted the local mountain rescue team. I doubt they necessarily would have the same degree of technical stuff. 
 

Certainly the fire service in Wolverhampton picked what3words up coordinates instantly after checking it was Wolverhampton not Carlisle. That’s the slight  snag with what3words. Mispronunciation and passing the wrong three words onto other parties. 

Like this one 

Near Bridge 139, Reservoir Bridge

Details

Type: Navigation Closure
Waterway(s): Oxford Canal
From: 17 December 2025, noon
To: On-going
Region: West Midlands
Reason: Vegetation
Subject to review on: 19 December 2025

Location

Closest waterway: Oxford Canal
Starts at: Bridge 139, Reservoir Bridge
Ends at: Bridge 139, Reservoir Bridge
Upstream winding hole: Winding Hole 4, Fenny Compton
Downstream winding hole: Winding Hole 5, Bridge 147

Description

Original 17 December 2025, 12:13pm

 

Please be advised that a fallen tree is currently obstructing the navigation near Bridge 139, Reservoir Bridge, Oxford Canal - W3W///outnumber.recent.roost

Team will attend and an update will be provided as soon as we have further information.

[Iain_S]

12 hours ago, Stroudwater1 said:

Surely the ambulance police and fire brigade have what3word/ grid reference capacity especially in Scotland? Perhaps they contacted the local mountain rescue team. I doubt they necessarily would have the same degree of technical stuff. 
(snip)

When I was working, pre W3W, the Police mapping used grid references. However, the grid reference they used was a 12 digit numeric one, and very few controllers could translate to/from a two letter, six digit one!

[IanD]

21 minutes ago, Iain_S said:

When I was working, pre W3W, the Police mapping used grid references. However, the grid reference they used was a 12 digit numeric one, and very few controllers could translate to/from a two letter, six digit one!

However the use of W3W is widespread today, though not universal (85% at the start of 2025, according to W3W). AI says this... 😉

 

"Yes, the majority of UK emergency services (Police, Fire, Ambulance, Mountain Rescue, Coastguard) actively use and encourage the public to use

what3words (W3W) to get help to the precise location of an emergency, often by asking callers for their 3-word address or sending a text link to find it, saving critical time in emergencies."

Edited December 18, 2025 by IanD

[Alway Swilby]

On 16/12/2025 at 15:40, Ronaldo47 said:

Someone on the radio a year or so mentioned the trouble he had had with the emergency services when an emergency situation arose when he was out hill walking in a remote area. He knew exactly where he was and could state his ordnance survey grid reference, but they said they needed  a postcode.

As I said up thread, What3words worked for us when we needed an ambulance at Hazleford Lock on the Trent.No post code required.  For those of you that know the Hazleford Lock downstream moorings you will appreciate that this is a rural location. Someone did need to go and unlock the gate for them, the ambulance people confirmed that they don't carry a CRT key.

Edited December 18, 2025 by Alway Swilby

[ditchcrawler]

6 hours ago, IanD said:

However the use of W3W is widespread today, though not universal (85% at the start of 2025, according to W3W). AI says this... 😉

 

"Yes, the majority of UK emergency services (Police, Fire, Ambulance, Mountain Rescue, Coastguard) actively use and encourage the public to use

what3words (W3W) to get help to the precise location of an emergency, often by asking callers for their 3-word address or sending a text link to find it, saving critical time in emergencies."

The great advantage is the operative can look at on their mobile phone and see exactly where to go, not relying on a controller trying to work out exactly where they are and direct them to the spot. But only if you use the right words.

[magnetman]

I wonder how this works with regional accents.

 

Presumably the idea with w3w is to at some stage personalise it and sell people special addresses. Like private number plates. 

 

Big.Boss.House

 

Never.Go.There

 

John.Smiths.Gaff

 

Do the owners reserve the right to change the words for certain blocks? 

 

 

 

You could get a location called terrace.dog.bike and a geyser from Ireland says it over the phone. The ambulance gets routed to terrace.dag.bake.

 

There must be other examples. 

 

 

[alias]

Personally I think w3w made a mistake in allowing plurals (i.e. an S on the end). Over a poor phone connection it can be hard to discern the difference between the singular and plural with some words.

 

In other news I have found many call centre staff are familiar with the NATO phonetic alphabet, which often helps avoid misunderstandings over providing details, particularly over a poor connection.

Edited December 18, 2025 by alias

[ditchcrawler]

6 minutes ago, alias said:

In other news I have found many call centre staff are familiar with the NATO phonetic alphabet, which often helps avoid misunderstandings over providing details.

But not so many members of the public

[TheBiscuits]

3 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

But not so many members of the public

 

True, but most people can work out the letters from the words even if they can't remember it the other way round.

 

 

[alias]

31 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

But not so many members of the public

 

This is true.  Handy though to get my vehicle registration accurately understood when I was buying insurance over the phone on a recent purchase before driving it away. 

Edited December 18, 2025 by alias

[Ange]

11 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

But not so many members of the public

I have learned the phonetic alphabet but I do have brain freeze sometimes. I've found apple, Betty, happy is just as easily understood as alpha bravo hotel 🙂

I used to manage the company car fleet in my young days before I learnt the phonetic alphabet, my substitutions on the hoof were very imaginative 

[ditchcrawler]

43 minutes ago, alias said:

 

This is true.  Handy though to get my vehicle registration accurately understood when I was buying insurance over the phone on a recent purchase before driving it away. 

I find it takes me a short while to get back into it

[alias]

9 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I find it takes me a short while to get back into it

Me too, but mostly I just need the few characters from postcode and car reg

 

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, Ange said:

I have learned the phonetic alphabet but I do have brain freeze sometimes. I've found apple, Betty, happy is just as easily understood as alpha bravo hotel 🙂

Depends which words you pick:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P_Is_for_Pterodactyl

 

[Ange]

13 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Depends which words you pick:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P_Is_for_Pterodactyl

 

Very true! 

[Tacet]

10 hours ago, David Mack said:

Depends which words you pick:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P_Is_for_Pterodactyl

 

A silent P is sometimes said to be "as in swimming"

[ditchcrawler]

49 minutes ago, Tacet said:

A silent P is sometimes said to be "as in swimming"

Not from the top board

[Iain_S]

19 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

The great advantage is the operative can look at on their mobile phone and see exactly where to go, not relying on a controller trying to work out exactly where they are and direct them to the spot. But only if you use the right words.

The same holds true for grid references, with the advantage that knowing your own position and the destination it is immediately obvious which direction to head off in. The same is not true if you're going to filled.alone.sends from leaned,pull.mess! (just a local example)

[IanD]

1 hour ago, Iain_S said:

The same holds true for grid references, with the advantage that knowing your own position and the destination it is immediately obvious which direction to head off in. The same is not true if you're going to filled.alone.sends from leaned,pull.mess! (just a local example)

Except that the W3W app shows your location and the destination and which direction it's in and how to get there, like any navigation app does -- I've used it to find people on a festival campsite... 😉 

[ditchcrawler]

41 minutes ago, IanD said:

Except that the W3W app shows your location and the destination and which direction it's in and how to get there, like any navigation app does -- I've used it to find people on a festival campsite... 😉 

And if someone is driving, the closest access point 

[TheBiscuits]

2 hours ago, IanD said:

Except that the W3W app shows your location and the destination and which direction it's in and how to get there, like any navigation app does -- I've used it to find people on a festival campsite... 😉 

 

There you go with helpful factual information again.  You'll upset those that don't do joined up thinking ...