Mobilising & Communication Centre (MACC)

Introduction

All about Us

Scania

MACC’s primary function is to accept and process Emergency calls for the area of Merseyside. This area covers from Speke to Southport, Liverpool City Centre to Newton le Willows and all of Wirral, a total of 26 fire stations. The control room is situated in Derby Road Bootle. (to view map click here)

The Control room is staffed 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week / 365 days a year. There are four watches Red, White, Blue and Green and each watch consists of both male and female staff. They are made up of -

8 Fire Control Operators (FCOp) Operators who answer 999 calls and deal with incidents (new members of control start at this level)
2 Leading Fire Control Operators (LFCOp) The first line of supervision
1 Senior Fire Control Operator (SFCOp) A supervisor who deputises for the FCO
1 Fire Control Officer (FCO) Officer in Charge of Watch – Responsible for managing the operational efficiency and welfare of a watch.

The shift pattern consists of two nine-hour days, (08:30 – 17:30) followed by two fifteen-hour nights (17:30 – 08:30). This runs over an eight-day cycle and corresponds with the Operational Staff (fire fighters). These shifts are being reviewed to fall in line with The Service Life Balance programme, which is addressing the needs of staff.

Other departments under the MACC umbrella are: -

Data Management Department – 1 Senior Fire Control Operator, 1 Leading Fire Control Operator plus 2 full time and 1 part time input clerks. This is for all matters relating to information required for MACC information system and other departments.
Fire Control Officer - Training Department. Oversees all training issues for MACC personnel
Group Fire Control Officer (GFCO) Responsible for the implementation of Service Policy and overall management and welfare of the Mobilising and Communications Department

MACC is the first point if contact for the public.

The calls are received in a variety of ways that include 999, Mobile Telephone, other emergency services i.e.

Ambulance Service,
Police,
Coast Guard,
Air Traffic Control,
Automatic fire Alarms,
Alarm Companies,
Running calls to fire station – (this links up to 999 system and not the fire station)
Exchange telephone, and on one occasion via the
Police helicopter.

Control staff liase closely with the Operational staff at the fire ground by using one of four radio channels, we process any requests from the Incident Commander, this could be informing or requesting other agencies, sending further appliances to the incident known as a ‘Make Up’ or advising Senior Officers of incidents that are over and above the ‘normal’. This information is documented on an ‘Incident Log’, which will have been created as soon as a request for the Fire & Rescue Service is received. Each request will be allocated its own unique number and any information relating to that is entered. This is a legal document so it is important that it is correctly completed.

We are responsible for co-ordinating appliances, personnel and equipment at every incident we are requested to attend, some incidents may only require the

‘Small Fires Unit’ (SFU) to deal with rubbish fires. Other more serious
incidents will require a response from specialist teams including-

Hazardous Materials Officer (Haz Mat)
Decontamination Unit (DCU)
Incident Management Team, (IMU)
Special Rescue Team (SRT) F
Fire Investigation Dog Handler (FIDH)

The total number of calls last year was 66,757, which equates to an average of 183 calls in a 24-hour period. This takes into account that some days the numbers are less and other days they can be as high 600 calls. This is usual in ‘spate conditions such as the bonfire period, flash floods or the grass fire season. The Fire Service would rather receive several calls for the same incident than no calls at all.

Hoax calls are a major issue with the Fire Service and there are initiatives in progress to try to alleviate the problems associated with them. We have teams working in high-risk areas to educate mainly the younger members in the community of the dangers of making a hoax calls. This not only puts a strain on the resources but also has the potential to put lives in danger.

Remember – a small fire only takes minutes to spread to a large serious incident – those minutes are vital in saving lives. This time is lost when fire crews are sent to an address that turns out to be a malicious call.

We also have an agreement with the Mobile Telephone Companies that in the event of a persistent offender, the Fire Service can and will have that person’s phone disconnected. All calls into Macc are taped and if a call turns out to be a hoax call, this tape can be passed to the Police with a view to a prosecution procedure against the offender. We are becoming more pro-active in dealing with these offenders.

The Control Room has just changed over to a new hi tech computer system called ‘Vision’ that incorporates a digital mapping system which enables the staff to process calls swiftly. The possibilities are endless – it can be used to: -

To locate an area with just a MT number
To identify the callers address details (which is vital should the caller be in a distressed state or if attempting to make a hoax call)
To track an appliances location to determine which would be the nearest to send to an incident.

Control staff not only deal with fire calls but also receives a variety of requests for assistance. These are known as ‘Special Service Calls’. They are not fire related and include

Chemical incidents (hazardous materials)
Road Traffic Accidents
Collapsed buildings
Aircraft incidents
Major Disaster
Entrapments
People confined in lifts
Industrial Incidents
Railway Incidents
Large Animals trapped/confined
Storm damage

These are just a few of the many types of calls we respond to. Not all calls are free and some incidents do incur a charge – Macc Control

this is discussed with the incident commander prior to any work being carried out.

When control staff is not dealing with ‘Operational incidents’ e.g. Fire calls or Special Service Calls they are busy with administration work, these activities include

Central Staffing – to ensure there is sufficient Operational personnel (fire fighters) to ride the fire appliances and make necessary moves to cover shortages and arrange kit and equipment to specified locations.
Collecting and processing information – appliance/officer availability
Updating and completing incident logs
Updating Database information (this is for other departments in the Organisation who request certain data relating to their tasks. Firework incidents, car fires, hoax calls, casualties and fatalities.
Dealing with press enquiries
General public enquiries – requests for smoke alarms and home fire risk assessments (have you had yours?)
Projects - appertaining to current issues.
Training

Training

This is an essential part of the Macc staff working day. This is constantly carried out to ensure staff is fully conversant with the latest procedures for mobilising resources to incidents. This is a continual process to address the changing requirements of the Fire Service.

Still Interested?

Potential applicants should be over 18 years of age.

Keyboard skills and knowledge of computers are necessary.
Previous experience in communication and working with the public would be an advantage.

Candidates would be expected to successfully complete a series of tests:

Listening & typing etc and
Demonstrate their ability to perform under pressure (but never alone as this is a ‘team work’ environment.)
Full training would be carried out over a six-week period.
Uniform would be provided

Please re-visit this site again as the vacancy situation is updated regularly (!)

Visits to the MACC Suite

We wish to encourage anyone who is interested in this aspect of the Organisation to come and visit us Enquiries should go through GFCO Lomax on 0151 296 4000.