An afternoon with the police

Yesterday I volunteered at the Police Public Information and Inquiry Centre (PIIC) for an 8 hour shift from a very user-friendly 3pm (or 1500 hrs as some call it) to 11pm (2300 hrs). This shift was much better than the other options of 11pm – 7am or 7am – 3pm.

 

The purpose of the PIIC is to provide information regarding road closures, weather conditions, contacts for DOCS with respect to emergency food/clothing/shelter and financial help, and any other relevant information people may need.

The PIIC consisted of volunteers from Red Cross, SES and the Coastal Patrol during my shift with the Police as overall coordinators. I was team leader for the Red Cross team of four, and as I knew all of them already they were very easy to gel with.

There was a constant stream of calls mainly from people wanting to know if the Pacific Highway was still open and whether taking the New England Highway was the better option. Fortunately at the time both were still open, however quite waterlogged. The callers tended to be either holiday–makers, locals wanting to know if they can get to work in the morning or truckies checking their routes. As some of the roads were flooded and hence closed I did suggest using a boat instead of their cars to get to work, but somehow most weren’t too keen on this option and preferred to stay home for the day.

A lot of the advice we gave them was to delay their journeys if possible and also to call us back just before they left to get an update. What I, and the others in fact, found quite interesting was that as soon as I told them we were open 24 hours they then became very appreciative of our efforts. I think most thought we would only be open during business hours. Well, I’m sorry to say that we were now just like Maccas and always open.

The Police did put on a very impressive spread for dinner which was most welcomed and the supply of lollies was never questioned. Although trying to take a call when you’ve got a caramel chew stuck in between your teeth was just a little difficult.

The 8 hours went quite fast as we had the soccer (Australia vs. Uzbekistan) on the projector and with no windows time has a different feeling. Plus with such a friendly bunch of people to work with it was a great way to spend an afternoon.

I think what we did and indeed the function of the PIIC is an invaluable service because sometimes people just need to hear a friendly voice on the other end of the phone helping them out. Plus some people just love having a chat especially during times of crises.

 

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