WITH the dream of becoming the national Triple Zero call line for wildlife, the founding members of Wildlife Rescue Australia (WRA) reckon they’re nearly there.

From humble beginnings in Coffs Harbour ten years ago, WRA is now an Australia-wide organisation specialising in the rescue of native animals, offering a 24-hour helpline run solely by volunteers.

A WRA spokesperson told News Of The Area, “To achieve our objective, WRA has established a state-of-the-art Call Centre which operates 24 hrs a day, 365 days per year.

“When a call is received, it is routed on a round robin basis to one of the phone coordinators (PCs) on duty at the time.

“When answered, a unique search engine (MapMaker – developed inhouse) automatically creates a call record and logs the date and time the call was received, the caller’s phone number etc.”

A voice recording of the incoming call is also stored and the information is available to all PCs on duty.

The Centre has a technical capacity of over one million incoming calls per year.

The Call Centre is staffed (at any one time) by up to ten or more home-based, volunteer PCs located anywhere in Australia.

They use the professionally written search engine MapMaker to generate a Google-type map for each rescue.

“The map shows the location and details of the animal to be rescued, together with nearby rescuers, carers, vet clinics etc, even tree climbers and chimney sweeps, i.e. any person or organisation who may be able to assist in a rescue.

“Any one of thousands of individuals or organisations can be contacted by phone, email or text within seconds of a call being accepted, with a few clicks of a mouse.

Over the last seven years, WRA has answered over 95% of calls received, with an average answering time of less than 25 seconds.

More details about Wildlife Rescue Australia, including how to volunteer, can be found at www.wildliferescue.net.au.

 

By Andrea FERRARI