30% calls made to Covid helpline 104 are irrelevant

30% calls made to Covid helpline 104 are irrelevant

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:25.05.2021

At least three out of 10 calls that reach the 104 hotline were irrelevant calls that clogged the line and could have kept a person in need of oxygen or ICU bed waiting. The 108 hotline for ambulances has also been facing similar problems, officials say.

The health department’s unified control room, or the war room, has received nearly 41,000 requests for beds between April 30 and May 22. Analysis of the telephonic triaging by doctors and paramedical staff show that only 35% of the callers required beds. “An equal number of people were advised home quarantine because they had good levels of oxygen saturation. They also had mild or no symptoms,” said health secretary J Radhakrishnan. But what has upset officials is that nearly 30% of the calls the hotline received until April 21 – about 12,396 – were irrelevant calls. “Some of these calls can be a menace when health staff are fighting to identify beds in high occupancy districts,” he said.

Staff at the control room say they receive calls for non-emergency reasons such as to verify RTPCR test results, seek information about health insurance schemes or complain to them about bad health policies, hospital infrastructure. Callers are directed to call other helplines so the hotline can remain free for patients in need.

Officials say some callers insist on discussing current affairs or civic problems, some others remain silent on the call. Similar calls land in the state’s 108 ambulance hotline. “Silent calls are very scary because we don’t know if the caller is silent because he is sick or if he or she is playing a prank,” said state head of operations M Selvakumar. The staff, he says, are trained to find out. They quickly disconnect the line after telling callers not to call the hotline or to use other helplines for nonemergency services. “If there is a call repeatedly from one number, we block the number for some time,” he said.

(For need other than O2/ ICU beds call – O44-29510400, 044-29510500/944-434-0496/ 875-444-8477)