March 2016, article from the Guardian Newspaper, excerpt:
”I recently took a call from someone whose car was on fire. She was panicked and struggling to tell me an address for the fire engine. When she did manage to speak coherently, her accent was difficult to understand and I was totally unfamiliar with the area she was calling from. She wasn’t sure either. Minutes went past as I tried to get correct information.
Luckily, my colleague took another call from a passer-by, who was able to give much clearer details about the location. I’m not sure if I ever could have got the correct details out of my caller that day. “
Find the full article from 2016 here:
https://www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2016/mar/19/999-calls-fire-control-operator-local-knowledge