A woman who fell into the River Mersey has prompted Merseyside Police and associated partners into action after the 999 call showed huge flaws in her rescue.
Teams from Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service were deployed to rescue the woman a little over a year ago after onlookers reported that she was in the water near the Mersey Ferries terminal at the Pier Head.
Witnesses described seeing the woman's 'head bobbing up and down in the water' - before the MFRS boat teams raced to rescue her.
They said around 10 police vehicles then arrived on the scene and helped the fire and rescue team to haul the woman out of the water.
However their rescue was delayed due to the caller not being able to give their exact location.
Sergeant Antony Lorenzelli of Merseyside Police who spoke to the ECHO said: “Just over a year ago, we were called following reports that a woman had entered the River Mersey.
“It took emergency services 20 minutes to get to where she was as the caller was unable to identify the exact location. This isn’t good enough and got me thinking, what can I do to change this?”
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Following the incident Merseyside Police along with Mersey Water Safety Forum as well as charities including Canal and River Trust, Samaritans and Royal National Lifeboat Institution have teamed up to commission unique signs along the River Mersey aimed at helping prevent suicides and other tragic incidents.
The signs behind The Albert Dock, which stretch along the River Mersey feature a different number which will provide emergency services with a more precise location of where an incident is or has taken place.
The hope is that response times to an emergency call out should be dramatically reduced.
In addition to this, Samaritans have designed a bespoke crisis sign with their phone number for people to call if they’re in crisis.
In 2019, 77 concerns for safety were made to the police, the quickest response time being 4 minutes and the slowest being 40 minutes.
Last year (2020), we received 63 concerns for safety, with response times ranging from 4 to 20 - the longer times due to there being no notable landmarks easily identifiable.
Sgt Lorenzelli revealed how the idea for numbered suicide prevention signs came about. He added: “It is all well and good being able to get to a location in under 4 minutes but more often than not, it has taken much longer, by which time, we increase the risk of being too late.
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“The idea for these signs came to me when attending to a concern for the safety of a woman. She was taken to the Intensive Care Unit, but thankfully recovered.
“That’s when I thought – something needs to be done. I started looking into the idea of signs and following a lot of research, which has been delayed by Covid-19, I eventually secured funding for these signs, which I think will prove vital in protecting those in need.
“The signs will feature the numbers 1 – 58 and will be fitted to the railings 50 metres apart from one another. We have also teamed up with the app ‘WhatThreeWords’ which will again give us the means to pinpoint exactly where an incident has taken place.
Rachel Howley, Development Manager for Samaritans of Liverpool and Merseyside added: “The Samaritans is a Listening Service: there is no judgement, no pressure and our aim is to help each and every caller work through whatever is on their mind.
“We have worked closely with our local partners on this initiative and it is fantastic to see it come to fruition. To anyone who sees the location signs and may need us, we are available 24/7 to listen and to support you.”
Steve Thomas, Mersey Water Safety Forum Chairperson believes the signs will reduce response times and ultimately save lives. He said: “We are delighted with the launch of these Waterside Location marker signs.
“I am confident that they will help responding emergency services locate those in difficulty even faster, whilst also providing a Crisis message for persons in Distress. On behalf of the Mersey Water Safety Forum I would like to personally thank Sgt Lorenzelli for driving and ultimately delivering this very important initiative.”
The Samaritans helpline number is 116 123. It is free to call, even from a mobile, and will not appear on your phone bill.
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