A live stream technology used by Manchester’s fire services to collect video and images from people’s phones has had a minimal impact on how emergencies are responded to.
Content from phones has been requested 1,531 times since March by the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) with the 999 Eye technology.
The content was used to determine whether more resources – such as additional fire trucks – was needed.
North West Fire Control – who handle emergency calls for GMFRS – decided to send additional resources on only 26 occasions after using 999 Eye.
This means the pre-determined approaches (PDAs) – which decide in advance what resources are sent according to the type of incident – changed in less than 2% of cases.
A GMFRS spokesperson said: “Our priority is keeping people safe and the fact that our initial control room response changes in only a small number of incidents when 999 Eye is used, shows that our established operational response is proportionate for the type of incident on most occasions.
“However, should it be required, having this technology in place acts as another layer of protection to the public.”
In response to a Freedom of Information request in October, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) said the resources sent according to PDAs would never be decreased on the basis of information gained from 999 Eye.
The GMCA also confirmed the total cost of 999 Eye since it was introduced this year is £36,360.
