Urgent need for single emergency helpline number!

Time has come for a single emergency helpline which takes responsibility of identifying & despatching appropriate help. This is the only way to get all departments to work together during an emergency & will also be hugely beneficial during disaster scenarios

Dear Dr Saleem

On Friday, I was at a meeting of a few RWA members, convened by the Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF), to decide on a common approach to the City Master Plan Revision (RMP 2035, as it is termed) being undertaken by the BDA.

During the round of introductions at the commencement of the meeting, Mr Sudhakar Varanasi, who has taken over as the CEO of NBF recently, stated that, prior to this assignment, he was with EMRI (GVK Emergency Management and Research Institute - the people responsible for the "108" service - http://www.emri.in/ ), having put the organisation together from scratch to where it is now, handling over 30,000 calls a day in Karnataka alone, a lot of them covering rural areas. On my probing about whether a "unified emergency number" system could be made practicable in the country, Mr Varanasi went on to say that the 108 service was indeed that. Now, on chacking their website, I notice that it says - GVK EMRI handles medical, police and fire emergencies through the " 1-0-8 Emergency service". To prove the point, Mr Varanasi made me call the number, to check out for myself, and I was pleasantly surprised with the positive and appropriate response.

The question then arises as to whether we should now be propagating this number alone as the unified emergency response number, instead of the confusing collection of numbers we presently have, each agency working on its own. Simultaneously, we could perhaps have all the other agencies pool in their resources to strengthen the 108 service too.

I look forwatd to hearing from you.

Dr Saleem (Addl Commr, Traffic):
Dear Mr Rao

Thank you very much for the mail.  Your suggestions are good but 100 is used for police emergency services through out the country.  Millions of people call 100 daily throughout the nation.  Therefore making 108 a unified number is not possible. Many ambulance services use different nos like 102, 1066 1068 etc,.  There should be a common no for ambulances.  Police emergency no 100 is used for fire and ambulance servises also.

With regards, M.A.Saleem

I forwarded the above to a few PRAJA members, and their responses were as below:

SV:
This is an unfortunate response. It is a good point that nationally, people use 100 for police emergency services. However, nothing prevents the configuration of telephone services so that dialing any of the emergency numbers  - 100, 101, 102, 108 etc. gets redirected to a single, unified, integrated call center. I am assuming that currently, each number goes to its own call center. Unifying those and adding the budgets can lead to so much better services, and the citizen has to remember just one number! Where there is a will there is a way.

SS:
Its just a turf war, you can see the way he has written he believes 100 can do the job just as well. Citizens dont mind if 100 is the number & 108 is discontinued. we just need ONE number not A PARTICULAR number but that one number has to take responsibility & accountability for closing all emergencies & calls. Apparently, 100/103 is staffed by people who are considered useless to the dept.

RD:
108 is a 'public-private' service set up for a specific purpose (under GoK Dept of Health and Family Welfare - Arogya Kavacha scheme). Same GoK has mandated these multiple numbers to be manned under Police and Fire departments. I think we should push GoK in general, possibly for a bill in the legislature to combine these services. Traffic Police cannot make this call by themselves.
 

Agree with you totally, Major. Yes, it's not a question of turf wars. It's essentially to do with getting all agencies involved to work together in evolving the much needed system.

PRAJA-RAAG will try to pursue the matter with the Secretary, DPAR.

After getting a total outlay of `70 lakh in the last State budget (2011-12), the group has deployed AVLT in all the 517 ambulances in the state. “This new technology will  help us monitor the ambulances from time to time. We can actually see the movement of the ambulances and their status from our call centres. We can see if the ambulance is at the base location, its movement from the base to the scene, from scene to hospital, at hospital and from hospital back to the base. This will help us immensely in building efficiency in emergency care, as we can assign ambulances using the maps,” said Sridhar BN, Regional Chief Operating Officer, GVK EMRI.

For the full report in the New Indian Express, click here.

So, all in all, the EMRI is an excellent PPP model, in which both the government and the public appear to repose full faith.

Now, certain aspects of the service seem to have been overlooked by people in general. If you look at the Ppt presentation on the service (accessible as an attachment to this blog), you'll notice a mention "Number 1-0-8: single integrated number for medical, police and fire emergencies", which point has been further reiterated by Ravi as "EMRI control center also has full time police rep(s) on call. Call 108 for any emergency, medical, theft, fire. Police on call will coordinate activities thereafter" in his post, accessible here.

So, a mechanism is in place already for handling not just medical emergencies, but even police, fire and all kinds of emergencies. And, the 100, 101, and other services are, even on the admission of the officials in charge, nowhere in a position to respond effectively to emergency situations, and cannot be geared to do so in future too. So, what's anybody waiting for? Shouldn't we all straightaway be propagating 108 as the single unified emergency service for any and all emergency situations, perhaps after a bit of stregthening of its infrastructure?

And, thereafter, we can dispense with the confusing array of numbers, like the ones seen in the picture below (taken in the M S Buildings lobby), which only add to the confusion in an emergency situation.

I agree that we need common numbers. May not be one, but atleast 3 of them as below:

1. Emergeny of any nature: Fire, accident, crimes (108 can be used)

2. Urgent issues like water, Electricty, garbage, transport etc (BESCOM volunteers!)

3. Any other issue related to government: complaints of corruption, delay etc. (sakala number can be used)

As somebody remarked correctly, only an Act from the government can bring coordination, like sakala did. It is possible. It's possible to put a system in just 6 months!

It will happen only when public demand it!

its good.

Dear Murali sir, and others

1. I agree with your opinion that BESCOM can't substitute a 911 system. Its not our job and we will not do that. Then what is this 'women's helpline about?' To start with, its NOT a women's helpline per se! Its a value added service from BESCOM, to receive emergency calls, and pass it on to the concerned. And, if required, we will also send our team to the spot. People are connecting this with 'women's helpline' as they feel that it will help the women the most. We also agree that it will help the women the most.

2. Thus, we need to take what comes in the media with a pinch of salt! There is communication gap and, generally media tries to make the news more 'exciting'!:) So, the right thing to say is that, BESCOM is providing a vale added service of receiving emergency calls and routing it to the concerned.

3. What is the logic behind this move? The first thing, as i explained in the Facebook is; when there is a demand, and i can supply that, why i should not? I feel that it will be insensitivity on the part of BESCOM, if we do not do our bit in receiving calls from the public during emergency and act on it, when we have a workable system in place. The second thing is; there is absolutely no extra expenditure than drawing a hotline from BESCOM to police and 108/1091. Thirdly, we are a company and we should do everything to be in the good books of my consumer. Whats wrong if i reach out to my consumer when they are in an emergency?

4. But, i agree that this is only temporary arrangement, till the govt comes up with a good 911-type system. Because, what we are doing is like the help from 'friendly -neighbor', and nothing more. We don't want to do somebody else job. As sanjay pointed out, we are also not equipped to do this!

5. I am sure that soon the govt will come with a 911-system. Till then there is nothing wrong in anybody assisting he citizens, be it be BESCOM or anybody! What is required is an assistance for anybody in emergency! The day 911-system comes to force, BESCOM will roll this back!:) Meanwhile, even if only one woman feels supported during an emergency, due to BESCOM, i will feel that everything is worth it!

Very nice thought Mr Mani Sir and very much appreciable.

But, media should report it correctly and also put some pressure on home department and other concerned authorities to take action and take the stuff further where BESCOM (Mani Sir) started.

I also see this can be taken as a populism move by our Energy Minister Sobha, credit to her ministry (also she is a woman) and use that for vote bank politics.

We want this move to be taken further by concerned department and really good to have a 911 kind facility. If that is achieved, we don't give a damn, who takes the credit etc.

Deepak

Yesterday, my good friend, Mr Das (of CyBaNa fame), called me up around 8 in the morning to request me to call up the BESCOM helpline to report a live wire fallen on the road, in the vicinity of the late Dr Raj Kumar's house in Sadashiva Nagar. He was in an auto, didn't have the helpline number, and his experience with calling 100, which he mailed to me about, later, I am adding below:

I was in an auto on my way to the office when I saw the problem. Showed a couple of police constables who were passing by on a bike the issue, told them to get the message across to Bescom (because I did not have the Bescom number). Was doubtful if the constables would do the job. Tried calling 100 soon after, but nobody picked up. Got them after a couple of attempts more. The background conversation indicated that people were having breakfast - strange that an emergency number is unattended because it's breakfast time. The person there was of course courteous and said she would convey the message about the live wire on the ground to Bescom.

I'm only happy that nobody got electrocuted in the time it took to get the message across.

We seriously need a 911-type common number for all emergency services.

Earlier, I had called the BESCOM helpline 22873333, and it was picked up within the 2nd ring by a Ms Kulkarni, who collected the details from me very professionally, asked for Mr Das's number to check out the exact location, assured me that she will have the matter attended to, and signed off. For once, I genuinely felt assured by a service provided by a governmental set up.

Hat's off to Mr Manivannan for bringing about this cultural change. The contrast between BESCOM's service, and that of the police (100) is indeed quite stark. But, the question remains as to whether it will be sustained beyond Mr Manivannan's tenure as the head of BESCOM.

“Bangalore city needs an integrated call centre involving the police, health and civic departments,” Principal Secretary of Revenue Department Tushar Girinath said.

Summing up a three-day workshop on ‘International Practices in Building Resilient Cities’, Revenue Secretary and Chief of the Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority wing, Tushar Girinath, said he will hold a meeting with the commissioners of all these three departments in this regard.

He said the call centre should be set up on the lines of the Incident Command Centre in the US.

“In Bangalore, a number of call centres function under police, BBMP, Bescom, health department. In addition to this, the Disaster Management Authority has one call centre as an emergency operation centre at MS Building. One of the main suggestions in the workshop is that it is high time Bangalore had integrated call centres under one roof. In the US model, there will be an incident commander along with a public relations officer and a safety officer,” he said.

Girinath said he has already spoken to City Police Commissioner Raghavendra Auradkar in this regard. “Steps to set up the centre should be initiated immediately. I spoke to the police commissioner and he has promised  to meet again in this regard,” he said.

For the full report in the New Indian Express, click here.

Long overdue need - all strength to Tushar Girinath's initiative. Tushar Girinath comes with the reputation as the erstwhile chief of MESCOM, who brought down the losses to record low levels.

TRAI has recently notified of the adoption of a uniform emergency number, selected as 112 for the entire country.  Within a period of 1 year post its implementation, it is envisaged that the entire emergency response system will shift to 112 and the old numbers will be phased out.  This includes 100 - Police, 101, 102 and 108.  From press reports, it appears to be injdicated that some other helplines will alslo be subsumed into this.

Bulk of the TRAI notification (D.O. Number 102-5/2014-NSLII dated 7 Apr 2015) and the ministries response (16-04/2015-AS-III/NP/32/321 dated 25 Aug 2015 is focussed on the telecom related technical aspects of the problem).  It is mainly about collecting location and other information from the phone call and transferring the info to the call center and maintenance of the requisite databases.

All this is a necessary and important piece of the puzzle of emergency care in India.  What is left unaddressed is: details on the nature of the call center itself.  Training and provision of personnel to communicate with the caller and to dispatch emergency support competently. Recording of details and related standards for legal aspects.  Funding of such an entity to cover both urban, semi urban and rural areas of the state /nation, for call center, for care provided and other services such that it is sustainable and a satisfactory level of service is acheived.

In short, the thought is good, but just having a number does not solve the problem. In fact, a central number could make matters worse, It is accepted that the elevle of service available in the country today is fairly pathetic.  It is worth studying various options for funding emergency services and for capacity building.

Areas worth studying - the GVK EMRI 108 system, suitable legal framework for emergency care. Proposed laws on emergency care by the law commission of India.

The next time you try to call the police control room to report any emergency, language won't be a barrier. For, the control room personnel will converse with you in three languages: Kannada, Hindi and English. The moment you dial 100, the IVRS system will ask you to choose the language of your convenience.

Kannada used to be the language of communication in the control room, and usage of any other language was subject to the personnel's felicity. Given Bengaluru's emergence as a metro with global linkages, the grouse of most non-Kannadigas calling the control room used to be the language problem.

Police commissioner Praveen Sood said the language option facility will be installed by April and staff will be trained to converse in Hindi and English. "Bengaluru is a cosmopolitan city with a huge floating population from different parts of the world. Foreigners living in the city should not face any difficulty," Sood said.

For the full text (emphasis added by me) of the report in the ToI, click here.

Excellent, Mr Commissioner. But, what happened to "112" which was to emerge as the Unified Emergency Response Number across the country (check my post of 26th Dec, '16, scrolling above)?