Chennai: GVK EMRI, the ‘108’ ambulance service operators for Tamil Nadu health department, received a phone call on Friday afternoon seeking emergency ambulance service for a pregnant woman in labour pain at Tiruvallur. The caller also reportedly said that the baby's head was almost out of the birth canal.
According to The New Indian Express, a Medical Technician NM Murali Kumar and ambulance driver K Raj at Seemanpuram in Ponneri Taluk rushed to the place with all the necessary equipment. However, upon arrival, the ambulance team called the dialler who said "April Fool" and ended the call.
Talking about the incident, Murali Kumar said that he had all the delivery kits ready. However, the caller pleaded with him to not get angry and disconnected the call.
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Following this, the police filed a case against the prank caller and traced the man. When they enquired him, he allegedly said that he received an information that a woman was in labour pain at next street due to which he called '108'.
Within a few minutes, he said, "April fool" again and ran away. The police warned the man against doing any such things in the future.
However, this is not the first time, ambulance services are receiving such prank calls. According to the data available with GVK EMRI officials, 108 service receives 10,000 to 11,000 calls per day of which 20 percent of calls turn infective including inquiry calls, prank calls and nuisance calls.
As a result, Premnath, marketing head of GVK EMRI said, the diallers also do not understand the importance of the service. The person who needs care might not get it due to the ineffective calls.