The Herald - Jan 19, 2007
Clyde signpost plan to speed up rescues
By Damian Henderson
A system to help the emergency services find people who fall into the River Clyde is being developed because of difficulties locating incidents.
The Glasgow Humane Society, which until 2005 provided the rescue service for the city's waterways, has set up signposts on the river east of the city centre which it hopes will help direct 999 diallers.
George Parsonage, who runs the society, said that identifying areas along the riverbank for rescue services is often difficult compared with directing them to landmarks or clearly identifiable streets.
He hopes Strathclyde Fire and Rescue (SFR), which has provided a rescue service on the Clyde since April 2006, will use the signposts in its response procedures.
He said: "Upstream of Glasgow Green, people often don't know where they are. We would like to see notices every one or two hundred metres throughout the area which people could identify if they see someone in the water."
Mr Parsonage says he has been talking to Strathclyde Police since August about incorporating the signposts, which sit alongside buoyancy rings at regular intervals from Glasgow Green to Rutherglen, into the force's global positioning system.
He said the problem of identifying the location of accidents was particularly acute east of the city centre, where long stretches of riverbank are not near any street signs or visible landmarks.
Callers often use colloquial names for bridges which would not automatically be known to emergency call centres, he claimed.
Since Mr Parsonage took over the running of the service in 1979 from his father, he has saved more than 1500 people from Glasgow's waterways and recovered more than 500 bodies.
Strathclyde Police stopped informing him of emergencies in May 2005 on health and safety grounds after it was discovered he was working alone. In November 2006, the society took on a second officer but the police have not reversed their policy.
Mr Parsonage is pressing for the society to be given an advisory role in shaping SFR's response on the waterways and says he has concerns over the time they have taken to attend some incidents.
Last year, the society rescued three people from the Clyde whom it reached before any other emergency services.
He claims it could have attended other incidents more quickly if it had been informed.
SFR said it operates rescue craft from ferry slipways at Yoker and Renfrew which allowed it to reach incidents "within minutes". A pontoon is due to be built next to the Glasgow College of Nautical Studies next month and an SFR spokesman said: "The pontoon, designed and installed in partnership with the college, will effectively provide a water rescue station on the Clyde and give direct access to the parts of the river close to the city centre."
Strathclyde Police declined to comment.
Mr Parsonage was made an MBE in 1999 in recognition of his role with the society, which was founded in 1790.