A month after the country’s first national emergency service 112 was launched, most distress calls received so far were for seeking medical aid, fire emergency or for police help.
A month after the country’s first national emergency service 112 was launched, most distress calls received so far were for seeking medical aid, fire emergency or for police help.
The service is similar to 911, which is the emergency number in the US. While all the present emergency numbers for police (100), fire department (101), health (108) and women (1090) still exist, the latest service offers integrated help for all kinds of distress, including disaster management.
According to the initial assessment of the service, which has been rolled out in 16 states and union territories, some being Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, the rescue teams have managed to reach persons in distress within five to seven minutes from the time the call was received.
Developed by experts from Centre for Development for Advanced Computing (C-DAC) at Thiruvananthapuram and launched by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, the state governments have shared information and data of their medical, police, ambulance and disaster management departments, which is used by the operators of 112.
“Every state has a centralised monitoring and caller reception team operating from its capital. Upon first receiving a distress call, the team gathers the location of the caller and identifies the nearest source for help. So far, rescue teams have managed to trace the distress caller within five to seven minutes. The response time is slightly longer in rural areas as it is challenging to zero in on specific locations,” Kalai Selvan A, associate director, broadcast and communications group of C-DAC, told The Indian Express.
Along with a mobile-based app, anyone facing an emergency can alternatively opt for SMS, email or the online portal of 112. For better access, callers can also dial the digit ‘8’ from their mobile handsets with physical keypads thrice whereas smart phone (in select models) users can seek help by pressing the power button thrice.
However, some states, including Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Chattisgarh among others, are yet to sign up for this service as they either have their own operational emergency services or are yet to introduce 112. But the C-DAC team said its distress response team could function with more efficiency if the ground support system is enhanced.
“We need more vehicles, ambulances and other mobile facilities on the ground so that our teams can dispatch information and direct rescue teams quicker,” Selvan added.
So far, 500 people have been trained and inducted into these centres. As of now, Delhi with 120, Punjab with 50 and Kerala with 45 have the highest number of volunteers.
The service is similar to 911, which is the emergency number in the US. While all the present emergency numbers for police (100), fire department (101), health (108) and women (1090) still exist, the latest service offers integrated help for all kinds of distress, including disaster management.
According to the initial assessment of the service, which has been rolled out in 16 states and union territories, some being Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, the rescue teams have managed to reach persons in distress within five to seven minutes from the time the call was received.
Developed by experts from Centre for Development for Advanced Computing (C-DAC) at Thiruvananthapuram and launched by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, the state governments have shared information and data of their medical, police, ambulance and disaster management departments, which is used by the operators of 112.
“Every state has a centralised monitoring and caller reception team operating from its capital. Upon first receiving a distress call, the team gathers the location of the caller and identifies the nearest source for help. So far, rescue teams have managed to trace the distress caller within five to seven minutes. The response time is slightly longer in rural areas as it is challenging to zero in on specific locations,” Kalai Selvan A, associate director, broadcast and communications group of C-DAC, told The Indian Express.
Along with a mobile-based app, anyone facing an emergency can alternatively opt for SMS, email or the online portal of 112. For better access, callers can also dial the digit ‘8’ from their mobile handsets with physical keypads thrice whereas smart phone (in select models) users can seek help by pressing the power button thrice.
However, some states, including Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Chattisgarh among others, are yet to sign up for this service as they either have their own operational emergency services or are yet to introduce 112. But the C-DAC team said its distress response team could function with more efficiency if the ground support system is enhanced.
“We need more vehicles, ambulances and other mobile facilities on the ground so that our teams can dispatch information and direct rescue teams quicker,” Selvan added.
So far, 500 people have been trained and inducted into these centres. As of now, Delhi with 120, Punjab with 50 and Kerala with 45 have the highest number of volunteers.