On Thursday 18th December our Deputy Team Leader Chris Greenhalgh liaised with NWAS (Greater Manchester) EOC Parkway, regarding the likelihood of the team being required to assist on Friday 19th December, which increasingly is referred to as ‘mad Friday,’ given the festivities of the evening.
Following a conversation with the Control Room Manager, it was established that it was be highly likely the team would be required.
NWAS had reached peak demand for approximately 2 weeks already and calls were predicted to increase rapidly on Friday night, leading to the instigation of their ‘step up’ measures and plans.
At 17.30hrs on the evening of Thursday 19th December, Chris paged the team informing them of the possibility of the team being required to assist NWAS (Greater Manchester) and asked for any team members available to help to volunteer to him directly in reply.
Eleven operational team members in total initially volunteered.
At 12.50hrs on Friday 19th December, Chris paged the team to inform them that contact with those who had volunteered would now be made by Sarcall (please see website reports for Sarcall training Wednesday 3rd December and Sunday 9th November 2014).
The meant the eleven team members could now be contacted quickly and easily as a group using this system.
At 15.45hrs Chris liaised with NWAS EOC Parkway to get an update, it was reported that, although they were busy, they were managing ok with no major problems at that time.
The standby group was informed of this and were told an update would be provided in the evening.
At 19.30hrs Chris liaised further with the Control Room Manager and again it was reported that they were still busy but managing ok with their available resources.
It was decided that there was no requirement to crew vehicles at our Ladybridge Hall Base / HQ, but to have team members on home standby instead, with immediate response availability.
If NWAS (Greater Manchester) required assistance, they would contact Chris direct who would then call the available team members to our Base / HQ.
By this stage a further two team member shad volunteered their availability, and so thirteen in total were now on standby at home.
Thankfully the night passed with no major problems encountered by NWAS (Greater Manchester), and the team was not required.
It is likely the weather played a part in this as heavy rain and strong winds continued for most of the night, plus a local incident leading to the closure of some regular nightspots.
This request for our possible assistance is recorded here for the interest and information of our readers, and does not feature in our Incident listings.
