Originally Posted by
thomwithanh
Is "Inspector Sands" some type of code word for a fire alarm or emergency on British trains and the Underground?
It is quite common to have code words to designate what kind of alarm is happening. At Summer Camp, where we only have a single campwide alarm (with a separate tone for cancelling the alarm, usually), we have radio code words for things like fire and lost child. Just helps the staff know what is going on and where, without everyone else getting involved (which initially, you might not want).
One time we did a lost child DRILL during staff training week and the local police helicopter got all worried about all the radio chatter about a lost kid in the woods, at night (no, we were not on their frequency, I guess they must have been listening generally). But thankfully, we already had a really good relationship with the local bobby (this was England), so when he stopped by, everything was good and well.
DanishFlyer