Two private emergency services – Netcare 911 and ER24 – have voiced their concern about receiving prank calls from the public.
“Netcare 911 would like to discourage and condemn acts of prank calling, solely because they result in a waste of time and resources that could have been utilised to save a life,” said Media Liaison Officer Athlenda Mathe.
“At about 5am yesterday morning, our 24 hour Emergency Operations Centre received a call that a woman had been shot and was in a critical condition in Sebokeng,” she said.
“An Emergency Care Practitioner, two Intermediate Life Support paramedics and a Basic Life Support paramedic raced to the scene of the incident.
“When they asked for directions to the scene, they discovered that there was no such place or incident. In other words, this was actually a prank call,” said Mathe.
She went on to say, “Netcare 911 would like to make the public aware that paramedics put their lives, and the lives of people in life-threatening emergencies, at risk when they race to the scene of hoax emergencies.
“When responding to prank calls, medical care to all citizens is compromised and people who desperately need assistance from paramedics have to wait longer for a response. Many may lose their lives because of this,” she concluded.
When the Record contacted ER24 for comment, we were referred to the following press release, which includes very disturbing statistics in this regard.
“In 2014, 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 we only realise the paramedics have been sent on a wild-goose chase once they arrive ‘on scene’.”
Shakira Cassim, the ER24 contact centre manager, 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 out, 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.
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