WITH the public and school holidays looming, ER24 has warned it will track prank callers and hand their details to the police to deal with the barrage of prank calls it receives.
These calls often cause ER24 to dispatch emergency vehicles to non-existent emergencies, misdirecting precious resources.
Statistics from 2011 have shown that ER24's emergency contact centre answered an excess of 700 prank callers on the national emergency line during school and public holidays. Recently, ER24 received more than 300 prank calls from one caller, only known as Nicholas.
Generally, prank calls range from people who hang-up to outright false calls or bomb threats. In most countries prank calls to emergency services or emergency lines are considered a criminal offence.
Prank callers are now tracked as soon as enough information is collected from ER24's caller line identity system, their number is flagged and any further calls from the same number are recorded and investigated. Once the investigation proves that the caller is a prankster, relevant information is handed to the police, with pranksters possibly facing serious charges.
According to ER24 communications manager, Werner Vermaak "ER24 takes all of its emergency calls seriously and our aim is to provide fast and efficient emergency medical care. Pranksters clogging up emergency lines will be dealt with in a serious matter."
Have you spoken to your child about the consequences of prank calling?
- Look Local
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