While browsing through Facebook one Saturday morning, I came across a post which left me flabbergasted.
“Help I have an emergency! Can someone give me the number for the fire department?”
Seriously? On Facebook?
Now, I have four very distinct problems with this.
Firstly, if you have an emergency, Facebook is not the place to receive immediate helpful information.
If you want to look at some holiday pictures of that trip your friends took without you, or you need a dose of cute cat videos, then Facebook is the right place.
There is some pretty dodgy information shared by various Facebook accounts, pages and groups and few people take the time to distinguish between fact and fiction.
But hey, it’s on the internet so it must be true.
My second problem with the said emergency was that the first person who responded and the second and the third person, advised the poster of the emergency situation, which was clearly a fire emergency, to contact 10111.
Really?
Right, you have a fire problem and you’ve just called out a few burly police officers armed to the teeth with big guns and bulletproof vests.
If you ask me, I don’t think that was the kind of back up you were looking for, unless that is, you were suspecting those menacing flames to take your family hostage and rob you blind.
My third problem with this is that I cannot comprehend why any “responsible” adult would not have a list of emergency numbers readily available.
Come on, they teach this kind of stuff to children at a pre-school level.
And, as an um “responsible adult”, and I use the term responsible very loosely but I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt, I would think having the numbers for emergency services pasted on the fridge, saved on your phone and written in a telephone book was a given.
Dear poster, the number you were looking for was actually 10177, again taught to children at a pre-school level.
I have a list of contact numbers, the police, fire department, ambulance services, medical aid, sector vehicles, security providers in my area, the municipality, doctors, dentists, the vet and an emergency vet.
I love numbers! It means I can contact the right people in an emergency situation and I have these numbers on my phone, my husband’s phone, on the fridge and in our address book.
Do people even use address books anymore?
I also have a copy of our emergency numbers saved in my Google drive account, which with a simple click of a button, I can share with my family.
I have made everyone I know take down and save their emergency numbers.
It’s a habit, and a good one. I have never seen any one of my friends call for help during an emergency situation on social media.
We have a social WhatsApp group and we have one for emergencies, but the rules are clear, you first call the right numbers before you post it on the group.
Chances are the relevant response needed will arrive at the house long before I’ve dragged myself and my husband out of bed at 2am.
My last problem with this situation is the time it takes for everyone else to respond.
The first response came 20 minutes after the emergency was posted. Let that sink in, 20 minutes.
In that time your house could have burnt down.
Also, the average response time for the fire department is 10 minutes after a call is placed. Which means the poster would have waited 20 minutes for someone to respond with the incorrect number.
And now the poster would have contacted the SAPS for a fire situation.
The SAPS would have directed the caller to the right number, but because the services are not linked, this could take an additional 10 minutes.
Now 30 minutes have passed and there is still no one to assist in a fire emergency, no wonder we get calls that our fire service is tardy.
It’s all their fault, that you do not have the right number, isn’t it?
So here it is, the right numbers:
- Dial 10111 from anywhere in South Africa and a call centre operator will answer the incoming call, take all necessary particulars and assign the complaint to a Flying Squad patrol vehicle, or the local police station, to attend the incident.
- For emergencies, you can call 112 from any cellular phone in South Africa. You will then reach a call centre and they will route you to an emergency service closest to you. When you dial this number you will reach an automated menu. Don’t let this frustrate you. The menu acts as a form of triage (priority of treatment) control and filters out abuse of the medical and emergency system.
- Dial 10177 for fire or ambulance emergencies. Alternatively, the Ekurhuleni Disaster and Emergency Services emergency number is 011 458-0911.
- For non-life threatening municipal complaints, you know, streetlights, potholes, refuse and burst water pipes, call 0860 543 000.
@EdenvaleJourno
