Emergency call system needs to be upgraded, says D-G

KUCHING: Director-general of Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) Malaysia Datuk Wira Wan Mohd Nor Ibrahim acknowledged a need to upgrade the existing system of dealing with emergencies in the country.

Wira Wan said at present, if a person dialled 999, the call would be directed to the call centre of Telekom Malaysia (TM) where the caller would be prompted for the type of emergency.

“The receptionist will ask ‘What type of emergency?’ If it’s a fire, the line will be passed to Bomba, and Bomba will speak to the caller to ask for the location and other details.

“South Korea has a more advanced system where the control centre can identify the location of the caller and whether calling from a land line or mobile number. They can tell where the call comes from, and the computer will give the station nearest to the caller.

“Just a press of the button and the (nearest) station will be informed then wait for the response. It’s quicker. But we are getting there,” Wira Wan told journalists after Fire Commissioner of Seoul Fire Services Kwon Soon Kyung visited state Bomba headquarters here Friday.

Wira Wan explained that Seoul Fire Service was equipped with a control centre where distress calls were received, processed immediately and rescue personnel dispatched.

The computerised system would notify the personnel in charge of the nearest station.

“Everything is shown on the computer screen in the control room - the location, how many minutes it’ll take to reach the scene, monitoring and so on. That is one of the features of Seoul Fire Service.

“They can measure whether it’s fast or slow, or there’s a traffic jam. All the fire stations there are equipped with GPS (global positioning system) and indicators on the screen.”

Wira Wan said Kwon revealed that there were 23 fire stations in the metropolitan city and two new ones would be ready next year.

He said all South Korean fire stations were equipped with computerised system and fire engines while ambulance service also came under their jurisdiction.

According to Wira Wan, the ambulance service under Seoul Fire Service is responsible for delivering victims from homes or scenes of emergency to hospital, whereas the hospital ambulance is driven from hospital to hospital.

Asked if Bomba Malaysia had a similar system, he said: “We have the basic framework, but will need to add more software or programmes which will take time.”

To another question, Wira Wan said he could not tell how soon the existing system could be upgraded but it’s improving.

“Information technology (IT) is improving fast. If we were to change our system, we could jump to the most advanced.”