Making prank calls on toll-free emergency medical services can get you into serious trouble. With nearly 50 per cent calls on the 108 emergency service number turning out to be prank calls, the Maharashtra Emergency Medical Services (MEMS), launched by the Bharat Vikas Group (BVG) India Limited, has decided to lodge police complaints against those people who persistently make such irrelevant calls.
The service has recently introduced a three-step procedure to deal with irrelevant calls coming in each day. The service, started on January 26, has received over 50 per cent non-medical and irrelevant calls in Pune.
"For Pune city, there were 6,365 calls registered in six months, out of which 2,839 were emergency calls that were successfully attended to. There have been over 3,000 calls which were of not of much relevance to the service," said Swapnil Chougule, associated with the BVG's MEMS service.
Elaborating on the nature of irrelevant calls, chief operations officer (COO) of BVG MEMS Dyaneshwar Shelke said, "There are callers who use foul language with female attendants or ask for their contacts and addresses. They use the emergency service to pass their time. To ensure reductions in such calls, we have developed a three-step system where we try to make the caller understand the use of emergency service; even after that if the same number calls, we block the number and if the caller calls from other numbers we file a case."
The emergency medical service, formed mainly for cardiac emergencies and accidents, received only 1 per cent and 5 per cent of such emergencies respectively in the city. After irrelevant and prank calls, calls related to minor cases like transfer of patients, general medical check up and inquiries were found to be high. Pregnant women made best use of the service with over 12 per cent of calls for labor emergencies.
"To make citizens realise the importance of 108 and not misuse the service, the company along with the state government shall arrange for awareness camps in schools and colleges, promote the service in private health care units and advertise through television and media," added Shelke.
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