HCM City to use 114 as emergency number
The current separation of numbers for criminal, fire, and medical emergencies will be merged into a single emergency number, 114, according to an official at the municipal information department.
In an interview on November 22 with local newspaper Thanh Nien, deputy director of the city’s Department of Information and Communications Le Quoc Cuong said his department was working on a plan to unify the current emergency numbers of 113, 114 and 115 into a single number, 114.
The number will be run by a concentrated operation headquarters where all types of emergency reports are received and handled, Cuong said.
Currently, people reporting criminal emergencies in Vietnam are to dial 113, whereupon they would be automatically connected to the respective call center of the area, according to a note by Vietnam’s General Department of Police.
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| Operators at the 114 call center run by Ho Chi Minh City Fire Department |
The same process is applied to fire and medical emergency reports, which are received via the 114 and 115 numbers respectively.
The consolidation of emergency numbers into one in Ho Chi Minh City will not affect other locations in Vietnam, where the three current numbers would still apply.
According to Cuong, using three separate call centers for three types of emergencies is inefficient for rescue and lifeguarding missions, since it limits liaison between departments.
Once upgraded and unified, the Command Center under the Ho Chi Minh City Fire Department in charge of the emergency number 114 would be responsible for all emergency reports and authorized to dispatch officers and medics to respond to emergencies, Cuong said.
The deputy director added that the municipal Fire Department’s call center was selected to replace the other two due to it being the most modern and fully-equipped center of the three, while its reputation of fast response to emergency calls was also noted.
The 114 Command Center will be available 24/7 and divided into three shifts, each overseen by commanding officers from the police, fire, and medical departments who have the power to dispatch manpower should the situation call for it, Cuong explained.
The center would have access to city-wide CCTV footage and be equipped with a system that could automatically locate the caller’s location.
Emergency reports by photos or videos sent via social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Viber or Zalo would also be handled by the Command Center in addition to traditional phone calls.
The consolidation is not expected to happen until 2018, Cuong said.
