Police change how silent 999 calls from mountains are handled after two climbers die on Snowdon
North Wales Police responds after coroner warns of risk of future deaths
North Wales Police has changed its policy on silent or disconnected 999 calls from mountain areas, after a coroner warned of a risk of future deaths following the deaths of two young climbers on Snowdon.
The force said its new policy tells staff to consider alerting mountain rescue when a silent or disconnected 999 call comes from a confirmed remote or mountainous location.
It made the change in a letter responding to a Prevention of Future Deaths report from Assistant Coroner Sarah Riley.
The report followed the inquest into the deaths of Jayden Long, 19, and Eddie Hill, 20, who had travelled from Norwich to climb Snowdon in February.
What the force has changed
North Wales Police said the policy includes: 'In the event of a silent or discontinued 999 call being received from a remote/mountainous location, if the location is confirmed via EISEC (BT-confirmed auto data) or other means of confirmation of location (eg GoodSAM Location Services) then consideration should be given to making the mountain rescue team aware for consideration of deployment if appropriate and relevant.'
North Wales Police also said: 'Given the geography of North Wales, this action is proportionate as silent 999 calls from these locations, where the locations are confirmed, would be out of the ordinary.'
What happened on the mountain
The two men parked at the Pen y Pass car park at 12.50pm on 18th February and began their ascent.
The coroner said the route they intended to take is not known, and neither is the route they actually took.
At 4.22pm, Mr Hill sent his girlfriend a message saying that because of the weather they were going back down the ridge.
At 4.27pm, Mr Long called North Wales Police, but the call was discontinued.
On playback, he could be heard saying "hello" and "can you hear me?" before contact was lost.
Police tried to call the number but were unsuccessful.
Police did not contact Mountain Rescue until 7.38pm, more than three hours after the call.
The men were found dead at 11.04am on 19th February.
They had fallen down steep terrain covered in ice and snow.
The inquest, which concluded on 10th September, recorded a conclusion of "accident". The cause of death for both men was multiple traumatic injuries.
The coroner's concerns
Ms Riley found there was no force-wide procedure to guide call handlers on what to do when taking calls from remote or mountainous areas, and that no training was provided.
She also raised concerns that the systems for sharing learning were inadequate, that there was no evidence on whether learning had been recorded or shared across the force, and that it was not known whether calls are routinely audited.
She said there was a "significant risk of future deaths" unless action was taken.