Now Emergency Has New Number - 108 ...

Bangalore: On November 2nd, 2008, The Karnataka state government, in partnership with Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI), a not-for-profit organisation from Hyderabad, has launched a 24-hour free emergency response service -Arogya Kavacha - to help people in emergency, be it medical, police or fire-related. This was launched by former President of India, A.P.J Abdul Kalam. People can dial 108 without any prefix or suffix from any phone (landline or mobile) and seek help. Without much of xtra story, here are more details...

What is new in 1-0-8???

1-0-8 is a toll-free number and is dialed:

• To save a life
• To report a crime in progress
• To report a fire

1-0-8 Emergency Response Service is a 24X7 emergency service for medical, police and fire emergencies. It is a free service for any Emergencies involving people. The service is available for the entire state of Andhra Pradesh ,Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Goa ,Chennai, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Assam.

• It a 24x7 emergency service.
• Toll Free number accessible from landline or mobile
• Emergency help will reach you in an average of 18 minutes
• Call 1-0-8 for all emergencies (Medical, Police and Fire)

Under what situations you can dial 108?

Medical Emergencies:

Serious Injuries, Cardiac arrests ,Stroke, Respiratory, Diabetics, Maternal/Neonatal/Pediatric, Epilepsy, Unconsciousness, Animal bites, High Fever, Infections

Police Emergencies:

Robbery / Theft / Burglary, Street Fights, Property Conflicts, Self - inflicted injuries / Attempted suicides , Theft, Fighting, Public Nuisance, Missing, Kidnappings, Traffic Problems ( Traffic Jams or Rallies, raasta rokos etc ), Forceful actions, riots etc

Fire Emergencies:
Burns, Fire breakouts, Industrial fire hazards

Do not call 1-0-8 if there is no ‘serious people emergency’. It is not a number for enquiry or information gathering. Do not play around by dialing 1-0-8 as a joke. Otherwise a call in real emergency could be blocked and a life could be lost. If you happen to call 1-0-8 by accident then do not hang up until the officer asks you to do so.

State-of-the-art vehicles:

Now, all you need to do in case of an emergency, like ill health, accidents or fire, is to dial 108. A fully equipped state-of-the-art ambulance will arrive within 20 minutes in urban areas and 30 minutes in rural areas. The medical staff in the ambulance will not only transport the affected person to hospital, but will also provide pre-hospitalisation treatment free of cost.

After collecting the information over phone, a fully equipped ambulance or fire vehicle will be dispatched to the spot. These vehicles have been fitted with Geographical Positioning System and Geographical Indication Systems to help locate the geographical position of the emergency scene. The ambulances have been fitted with medical equipment ranging from defibrillators and ventilators to extrication tools, to handle any emergency.

Explaining the salient features of the project, EMRI CEO Venkat Changavalli said EMRI has already tied-up with various hospitals and nursing homes to provide free hospitalisation for the first 24 hours until the victim is stabilised.

He said EMRI, which is a non-profit organisation, has been founded and funded by Satyam Computers.