RNLI cuts response times for lifeboats

£10m system helps charity contact crew more quickly

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is reaching stranded seafarers more quickly thanks to a £10m communication system.

The charity has equipped its 228 lifeboat stations and 6,000 crew with pagers that operate over a dedicated, integrated network.

When an emergency call comes in, lifeboat crew are contacted almost instantaneously, making response times quicker than previous devices that relied on a variety of general paging networks.

Staff and volunteers can also use the pagers to communicate with each other and stations and vessels, over private mobile radio.

'The system is designed to call out our lifeboat crews if we have a situation where the coastguard requires a lifeboat,' said Cecil Clark, staff officer operations (communications) at RNLI.

'This is much faster than the previous systems. We've taken minutes off the time it takes to launch a lifeboat which can be critical,' he said.

Some 5,000 of the 6,000 lifeboat crew members are volunteers, often with full-time jobs. The speed at which they are contacted to respond to an emergency at sea is crucial.

The network covers all lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland, apart from those on the River Thames, where stations are permanently manned.

The network was installed and managed by cable company NTL under a 10-year deal valued at over £10m.

'The sum is paid over 10 years, and if you work out how much that is per pager per week for 6,000 pagers, it's pennies,' said Clark.

The pagers link into a central management system, operated by NTL, that can easily and accurately identify if there are any faults, allowing swift repair.

The network is up and running but RNLI is working on new features and functionality that will include communication with the Coastguard and remote control of lifeboat station facilities.

RNLI launched 7,729 lifeboats last year and saved 775 lives.