ER24 is urging the community to stop making hoax calls.
According to Shakira Cassim, ER24 contact centre manager, last year ER24 received more than 33 000 hoax calls. Calls ranged from reports of non-existent collisions to people being in “distress” in remote locations.
“Shockingly, adults contributed significantly to the number of hoax calls received by contact centre agents. Calls received are so realistic that it is only realised paramedics were sent on a wild-goose chase once on 'scene',” she said.
Cassim urged hoax callers to think about the consequences of their actions.
“The risk is so high. Someone having a bit of fun can impact on another person’s life. There are instances, especially over peak periods, where our vehicles are all over attending to real emergencies such as drowning incidents and collisions with multiple patients. Attending to a hoax call means that we have a vehicle unavailable to attend to someone really in need,” she said.
Cassim said although contingency plans are in place, these plans come with extra steps that need to be followed, thereby increasing the time taken to attend to an incident.
Santi van Heerden, the ER24 contact centre co-ordinator, said hoax calls also impacted on the company financially and waste resources.
“If we dispatch an ambulance to an incident reported by a hoax caller and we have to service a real emergency in the area while all ambulances are out on calls, we have to either dispatch an ambulance from a different branch or send a service provider. This means loss of income and impact on resources,” said Van Heerden.
Consider yourself or a loved one not receiving urgent assistance in a life-threatening situation before making a hoax call. Parents are also advised to teach children about the danger of making hoax calls.
