The spotlight has been shone on the behind-the-scenes heroes of the emergency services as winners of the prestigious Control Room Awards 2023 were revealed.

Representatives from control room teams across the UK and Ireland came together to celebrate the commitment, skill and resilience of operators and teams in these critical roles serving and protecting the public.

They gathered at the Leonardo Hotel and Conference Venue, Hinckley Island, Leicestershire, to celebrate the finest of this selfless community of dedicated professionals in the sixth annual Control Room Awards ceremony.

The event featured inspirational stories highlighting the high-pressure, life-saving scenarios control room teams face on a daily basis.

Winners of the Control Room Awards 2023 included:

• Dolly Shilling, a Control Room Officer at London Fire Brigade, whose calm and assured approach helped protect fire crews from a man armed with a knife and coordinate the rescue of a man trapped in his bedroom during a house fire.

• Tamsin Doar, a Dispatcher at Dorset Police, who managed emergency services attending a multi-casualty road traffic collision and helped save the life of a young child who suffered a bleed on the brain in the crash.

• Josephine Howells, of Humberside Police, whose intervention saved the life of a man she encountered on her way home from work who was on the wrong side of the barrier on a bridge over a busy dual carriageway.

• Thomas Stibbards, of London Fire Brigade, who was responsible for the concept and delivery of a new app, launched in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster, which allows fire crews, commanders and control rooms to share data and track incidents in real time.

More than 180 nominations were received from organisations across the UK and Ireland, including police forces, ambulance services, fire services and HM Coastguard.

Twelve awards were up for grabs at the ceremony, including a brand new award for 2023 – the British APCO Control Room Innovation Award. The award recognises an innovative approach, or use of technology, within the control room which has made a real difference to operations or performance.

Awards co-founder Mike Isherwood said: “First and foremost, I’d like to congratulate all the winners and thank all our sponsors and partners for making the Control Room Awards 2023 such a success.

“The Control Room Awards were launched to celebrate a community which works tirelessly behind the scenes to keep the public safe. Their passion and commitment to the role is inspiring and every individual or team nominated or shortlisted should feel immensely proud of the work they do.

“As has been the case every year since we launched these awards, our judging panel had an immensely difficult job selecting the finalists and, especially, the winners. The quality of entries – and the inspiring stories which emerged from within them – were truly extraordinary and testify to the strength and resilience of the control room community.”

Andy Day, Director of Business Development (Public Safety Group) at Major Sponsor Sopra Steria, said: “Our software is an integral part of many control room operations, helping individuals and teams manage and coordinate responses to fast-moving, life-threatening and high-risk situations on a daily basis when dynamic decision-making is vital.

“This technology supports efficient and effective emergency services responses, but an absolutely key factor in successful incident management is the extraordinary skill, professionalism and dedication of the people in control rooms and contact centres.

“We’re proud to support the Control Room Awards and congratulate all the winners. It’s an honour for us to be part of such an inspiring celebration of the emergency response community.”