Most phone calls received by the national emergency helpline 999 are from curious people, due to the public not being aware of the fact that the service is only for emergency and on-spot services.
These calls fall into three categories- prank calls, missed calls and blank calls.
The helpline receives as many as 70,000 to 80,000 prank calls each month, which are basically disturbing or annoying calls while around 90,000 calls are miss calls, said officials. The number of blank calls, where people actually call but do not talk, are also high in number.
“We receive 17,000 calls on average per day. Among them, the numbers of such calls is high; but still, we provide our mandated services as fast as possible if the call is actually a Call for Service (CFS),” Mohammad Tabarak Ullah, Superintendent of Police at National Emergency Service 999 said.
The helpline, in fact, has three services as its mandate- police, ambulance and fire service. If services are provided, only these calls are considered as CFS.
Any citizen of the country is entitled to dial the number as toll free and the services will be provided from its office at police control room in Dhaka city’s Abdul Gani Road area.
Many people make unnecessary phone calls keeping the number busy without even knowing that it is distracting us from providing service to people who really need it
Since its official launch on December 12, 2017, it has received 36,8095 calls from Dec 12 to Dec 31, 516899 in January, 478393 in February and around 30000 from March 1 to 14.
Out of the CFS calls, the helpline also has many success stories for providing instant services- connecting the service seeker and the service provider immediately.
On March 14 afternoon, Tofayel, a travel agency official, noticed a woman giving birth by the roadside close to Shahjalal University of Science and Technology in Sylhet. The woman did not have any clothes on and was bleeding.
He immediately called 999 and within few minutes, police contacted with him and an ambulance was sent to the spot. Later, the mother and the infant were taken to MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital safely, thanks to the helpline.
Citing another experience, Constable Ismat Jahan, a call taker at the helpline office, said they have foiled a child marriage after a neighbor made a phone call saying a 14 year old girl was getting married to an 18 year boy in Chittagong.
The helpline immediately connected him with the nearest police station and a police contingent was immediately sent, foiling the attempt, she said.
“Still people do not know we can provide only three mandated services and it is actually an on-the-spot service. We only cater to emergency situations. Many people make unnecessary phone calls keeping the number busy without even knowing that it is distracting us from providing service to people who really need it. However, the numbers of such calls were most in the beginning. It’s happening less now,” said Tabarak.
Among the service seekers, people call to talk about issues such as crime, violence against women, child marriage, family problems, theft, hijack and clashes.
During this period, the helpline provided mandated services to 13,804 calls including highest 7708 for police supports, 2800 for fire service and 188 for ambulance.
The helpline also provides services to inquiry calls. The number of inquiry calls responded were around 46,000 in December, 68,000 in January, 85,000 in February, and 40,000 in March.
“We receive around 50 calls for CFS and hotline service per shift. Currently, about 200 staff is working here in three shifts. We receive the highest number of calls from 2pm to 8pm,” said inspector Mohammad Abu Naser, supervisor and trainer at the office.
The helpline can now respond to 30 calls at a time, but the authorities are working to raise it to 100 by next six to eight months because of the overwhelming response from the public, said Tabarak.
