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CRT 'Emergency' number'


Mac of Cygnet

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Today I was stuck at Park Nook lock on the Calder & Hebble because one of the bottom gates wouldn't close properly. Tried all the usual things - wiggling gate, flushing through, etc.  Being the weekend the normal CRT number wasn't working and I was reluctant to use the 'emergency' number because you get all sorts of dire warnings about it being only for situations threatening life & limb or serious environmental damage.

It wasn't an emergency for me because I wasn't in a great hurry, but I thought that Shire Cruisers ought to know as they may have boats coming down, so I phoned them.  Susan Stevens assured me that this was really just an 'out of hours' number and asked me to phone the number.  Sure enough, they were quite happy to send someone, despite the aforementioned recorded dire warnings, and he duly hauled out a large scooter from under the gate, saying that if I hadn't phoned someone else would have had to.

So why isn't there a dedicated weekend and out of office hours number, without labelling it 'emergency' and warning people not to use it unless life is in danger or environmental catastrophe imminent?  Weekends are if anything busier boating wise.

 

Edited by Mac of Cygnet
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Because CRT's objective is to erase all boating activity, so their only obligation becomes to maintain linear duckponds. Silly!

This is consistent with their tendency to promote the idea of a 'boating season', outside of which we have no business going along in our boats.

 

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8 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Because CRT's objective is to erase all boating activity, so their only obligation becomes to maintain linear duckponds. Silly!

This is consistent with their tendency to promote the idea of a 'boating season', outside of which we have no business going along in our boats.

 

I completely agree with the concept of a boating season.

Mine is 1st January to 31st December. 

What boating season do others have? 

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On 26/03/2017 at 08:41, cuthound said:

I completely agree with the concept of a boating season.

Mine is 1st January to 31st December. 

What boating season do others have? 

 

Mine starts in September and finishes about now....

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1 minute ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Mine starts in September and finishes about now....

 

So when I saw you at the Alvecote historic boat gathering a couple of years ago had you had Reginald taken their by truck? -_-

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On 26/03/2017 at 09:33, cuthound said:

 

So when I saw you at the Alvecote historic boat gathering a couple of years ago had you had Reginald taken their by truck? -_-

 

That must have been a ghost. Reg hasn't been there for the last four years!

(He's been busy wrecking engines, trying to sink, and stuff like that!)

  • Greenie 1
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11 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

That must have been a ghost. Reg hasn't been there for the last four years!

(He's been busy wrecking engines, trying to sink, and stuff like that!)

I've got a photo somewhere, 2014 I think it was, the year we moved here from Surrey.

I'd look it up and post it, but today it's our Ruby wedding anniversary, and I'm about to depart for a hotel for the celebrations, and dont want to upset Mrs Hound today by delaying our departure. 

 If I remember,  I'll  do it later.

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7 minutes ago, cuthound said:

I'd look it up and post it, but today it's our Ruby wedding anniversary, and I'm about to depart for a hotel for the celebrations, and dont want to upset Mrs Hound today by delaying our departure.

Great excuse to drink a lot of port :cheers:

Have a good day!

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Well!  I've hijacked threads myself in the past, but............

But seriously, what I want to know is the purpose of the CRT emergency number (the one with the 999 in the middle of it).  CRT seem to be saying that it's for serious emergencies only, and not to misuse it, whereas I've been told to use it as a weekend and out of ours call out number.

Also, it seems to be the number which gets results.  The problem I reported had been reported several days previously on the normal CRT number, but nothing done in that time. It was dealt with in 2 hours using the emergency number.

 

 

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Just now, Mac of Cygnet said:

Well!  I've hijacked threads myself in the past, but............

But seriously, what I want to know is the purpose of the CRT emergency number (the one with the 999 in the middle of it).  CRT seem to be saying that it's for serious emergencies only, and not to misuse it, whereas I've been told to use it as a weekend and out of ours call out number.

Also, it seems to be the number which gets results.  The problem I reported had been reported several days previously on the normal CRT number, but nothing done in that time. It was dealt with in 2 hours using the emergency number.

 

 

I regard it for things that need immediate attention.

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11 hours ago, Dave123 said:

Same, I have always used that number for anything preventing navigation like what you describe with the gates not closing. I would think the real 999 is the number to call if life or limb is in danger.:o

Right, that seems to be the consensus.  It's just that when you do call that number, the message you get says differently.

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On 3/25/2017 at 23:08, Mac of Cygnet said:

Today I was stuck at Park Nook lock on the Calder & Hebble because one of the bottom gates wouldn't close properly. Tried all the usual things - wiggling gate, flushing through, etc.  Being the weekend the normal CRT number wasn't working and I was reluctant to use the 'emergency' number because you get all sorts of dire warnings about it being only for situations threatening life & limb or serious environmental damage.

It wasn't an emergency for me because I wasn't in a great hurry, but I thought that Shire Cruisers ought to know as they may have boats coming down, so I phoned them.  Susan Stevens assured me that this was really just an 'out of hours' number and asked me to phone the number.  Sure enough, they were quite happy to send someone, despite the aforementioned recorded dire warnings, and he duly hauled out a large scooter from under the gate, saying that if I hadn't phoned someone else would have had to.

So why isn't there a dedicated weekend and out of office hours number, without labelling it 'emergency' and warning people not to use it unless life is in danger or environmental catastrophe imminent?  Weekends are if anything busier boating wise.

 

The CRT Web site states that the 'Emergency' phone number can also be used to report 'Urgent' matters:

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/contact-us/contacting-us-in-an-emergency

Tim

Edited by Tim Lewis
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3 hours ago, Tim Lewis said:

The CRT Web site states that the 'Emergency' phone number can also be used to report 'Urgent' matters:

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/contact-us/contacting-us-in-an-emergency

Tim

Yes, I just looked at that page and it says the number is for 'emergencies, urgent and non-urgent' (!)

I think mine was a non-urgent emergency.

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20 minutes ago, Mac of Cygnet said:

Yes, I just looked at that page and it says the number is for 'emergencies, urgent and non-urgent' (!)

I think mine was a non-urgent emergency.

Not quite, it provides a contact form for non urgent stuff

Tim

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It will depend what they call an " Emergency "? When they sent me mistakenly a note to move on after overstaying I sent them an E mail explaining their error and I actualy got a reply to that email in precisely ten minutes. Now if its something related to the actual waterways I doubt they would be that quick. Its pointless for them to give a " Genuine " only emergency call number because they would get inundated with idiots wanting taxis etc like the 999 number gets. And of course there would be " There is a duck trapped behind a sluice etc etc etc :rolleyes:.

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7 hours ago, Mac of Cygnet said:

Right, that seems to be the consensus.  It's just that when you do call that number, the message you get says differently.

I took this up with the NE Operations Manager and he tells me that the recorded message has just been changed following representations and should reflect the true situation: that it can be used out of hours for matters that require urgent attention but which some might not classify as 'emergencies'.  In my former workplace (the railway industry) people were similarly exercised by what constituted an emergency' (for which certain arrangements were permissable) - did it mean a major disaster with loss of life, or just a stoppage of traffic for some reason e.g. a broken rail or level crossing failure, or a swan on the track.

regards David L 

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10 hours ago, Tim Lewis said:

Not quite, it provides a contact form for non urgent stuff

Tim

True, but the actual words under the heading "Contacting us in an emergency" are " Here's what you need to do in case of an emergency, urgent and non-urgent"

In fact, the list of scenarios listed with the appropriate phone numbers does not include inoperative locks, which must be one of the commoner causes of people needing to get in touch.

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19 hours ago, Mac of Cygnet said:

Yes, I just looked at that page and it says the number is for 'emergencies, urgent and non-urgent' (!)

I think mine was a non-urgent emergency.

You raise a good point Mac. They don't help much with meaningless phrases like that, do they - I'd say you had an urgent non-emergency, but we're right to use that number (as I have in the past with good results).

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1 hour ago, Horace42 said:

Will someone who has used this emergency service please say what the number is please.

 

0800 4799947. This is the webpage under discussion: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/contact-us/contacting-us-in-an-emergency

I have the number programmed into the phone and my attitude to using it is the same as the 999 number. "If in doubt, call us out."

Thats not to encourage irresponsible calls, of course, but far better in a dodgy situation of any kind to default to letting the call handler decide on the most appropriate response. That's what they're trained for, or should be.

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1 hour ago, Horace42 said:

Will someone who has used this emergency service please say what the number is please.

 

Emergencies

In an emergency call 999 immediately. When you have received a response from the emergency services, then inform us on 0800 47 999 47

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