ANDHRA ERS call centres get 15,000 calls every day Youth make prank calls to kill time

When the authorities, especially medical personnel, are busy containing the spread of Covid-19, a section of people, especially youth, is making ‘fun’ calls to the 108 emergency response system (ERS) ambulance service. This has resulted in a steep rise in the volume of calls being made, which is hampering the service to emergency cases like labour pains, accidents and suspected cases of coronavirus.

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced lockdown with effect from March 25 for a period of three weeks, some idle youth have taken to calling the 108 ERS just for fun. They call 108 and remain silent even though the attendant is anxiously asking for details, and then hang up. This practice has become so rampant that in the last few that the normal number of

7,500 calls received per day seeking the service of 108 ambulance has gone up to

12,500 to 13,000.

The 108 ERS authorities say they have 25 agents attending to the calls on a regular basis. If the number of calls rises abnormally, a genuine caller may be forced to wait for a few minutes or longer if the phone remains engaged. They express fear that in case any caller is in urgent need of 108 ambulance due to advanced labour pains or accidents or some other health emergency, the caller may not be able to access the agent immediately. Crucial time may be lost and anything may happen to the patient if he or she is not shifted to the hospital in time.

ERS authorities say on an average they attend to

375 calls pertaining to labour pains from all parts of the state in a day. So far, they have also shifted 870 suspect cases of

Covid-19 to the government quarantine centres.

Bharat Vikas Group India state head K. Suresh said, “Since the lockdown, we are witnessing a sudden rise in the volume of calls being received at our

108 Emergency Response Service from all parts of the state. We appeal to the people not to call our service unnecessarily, as it may delay access for people who are in a genuine health emergency.”