A proposal which I think might work, although I have not clue how to program/realise it:
What about a /alarm command, players could use to alert guards? If someone for example is attacked in Hydlaa, or sees someone attacking someone, they could type
/alarm Guards! Help! Murder at Kada's!
In-game this would look like a normal shout, while the message is sent to a bot who posts the same message on #planeshift-gmtalk. This way, GMs would know directly when and where a guard is needed while the time to log in IRC, join the channel and post your request is saved.