Drunkards using 108 ambulance to reach home

It is around midnight, when a 40-year old calls up 108 and ‘’informs’’ that an accident has taken place near RTC crossroads. He pleads with the staff to send an ambulance post-haste. As the vehicle reaches the spot, the man tells them he is a ‘’patient’’ and needs to go to the Gandhi Hospital. But he gets down smugly at a little distance from the hospital and vanishes into the dark. It is here that the driver realises the man was drunk and just wanted a ‘lift’’. Of late, the emergency ambulance service 108, is being used by drunkards to go home. Even as hoax calls to the 108 service of the Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI) has gradually gone down, the staff members are perplexed whether to provide their service to the needy callers as drunkards are misusing the service and giving false information.VNS Prasad, regional manager (Operations), EMRI told Expresso that though hoax calls have gradually gone down, a number of calls are being received by the 108 call centre from drunkards who seem to be misusing the service. “We are not able to attend to real emergencies due to these fake calls. This has affected on our average response time as the services are badly affected by drunkards repeatedly making false calls,’’ he added.These fake calls are reportedly being made by drunkards, mostly residing near the Osmania General Hospital, Gandhi Hospital and other localities. They frequently make calls to the 108 emergency service call centre giving false information about the place and incident. As soon as the 108 ambulance reaches the spot, they get in the vehicle and direct staff members to go to a hospital near their house. As the vehicle reaches near the hospital, they ask staff member to stop the vehicle and simply walk out. Prasad said they are planning to implement a ‘Dynamic Positioning’ system in an attempt to combat potentially life-threatening problems. He said hoax calls could cost lives as they tie up vital resources and hinder response times to real emergencies.There are quite a few numbers which can be seen from the graphic given, which have been making regular fake emergency calls to the 108 emergency ambulance service.

EMRI, 108 Emergency service vehicle

By Mouli Mareedu