An Arnold man living with cerebral palsy has spoken of his satisfaction after a scheme he developed to help 999 callers with communication difficulties became a national success.
Chris Channon competed in the 1980s Paralympics and later won a silver medal in the 10-metre air rifle at the 1984 games.
He helped set up the Pegasus scheme as a pilot in 2008.
Mr Channon, who has communication difficulties due to his condition and uses a wheelchair, first approached Nottinghamshire Police with the idea after he was mistaken for a nuisance caller when making a 999 call.
Under the programme, the caller can quote ‘Pegasus’ and their individual pin number, which then brings all their information from a secure database to the emergency call handler, allowing them to get help more easily.
The information brought up to the handler can include any disabilities, communication difficulties, addresses, and names.
“The experience made me realise that I had no reliable means of getting help in an emergency,” Mr Channon said.
“I live alone in the community and I knew that there are many others who would struggle to make a 999 call.
“I approached Nottinghamshire Police with the idea because they are my local police force. I was initially told that it couldn’t be done.
“Fortunately I met an officer who saw the promise of what I was proposing and with his support over a two year period , got the force to run a year long pilot of Pegasus.
“This was deemed so successful that it was decided that Pegasus should continue beyond the pilot phase.”
The scheme is now used in Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Sussex, Surrey, the city of London, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, according to Mr Channon.
In May Cambridgeshire Constabulary said a woman involved in a car crash had used it to get help.
The force said in a Facebook post on May 29: “Picture the scene: You’ve been involved in a car crash. You’re almost certain your car is a write-off. You can feel pain coming on in your back and neck.
“The occupants of the other car get out and are surrounding yours. You start to panic.
“As someone living with communication difficulties, you try to explain this to the driver of the other car, but they don’t understand.
“You call 999 and luckily, you’ve already registered with the Pegasus scheme, so the call handler knows about your communication struggles and knows exactly what to do.
“This was a real situation that happened recently for a woman in south Cambridgeshire. She was so thankful for the Pegasus scheme that she sent us a ‘thank you’ afterwards.”
Mr Channon, 68, said he would like to see the scheme rolled-out fully nationally, to help those who are elderly and those for whom English is not their first language.
“Presently it’s up to individual police forces as to whether or not they implement the scheme and currently there are eight police forces using Pegasus,” he added.
“A national scheme would initially be a massive undertaking and I doubt if there is the political will to invest in the current economic climate.”
