One and a half thousand Saratov residents call “just like that” on the emergency number “112”. Yury Yurin, head of the life safety department of the government of the Saratov region, announced this to journalists on April 22 at a press conference.
In total, 10,000 calls are made every week. Out of one and a half thousand people call to immediately hang up the phone, be silent or ask a completely extraneous question, for example, how to find a particular store.
“Some people ask how to get to this or that gas station. You have to understand that 112 is not intended for such calls, it is an emergency service for a quick response to an emergency, and not in order to distribute consultations,” Yurin said. He asked to stop “indulging”, recalling that because of calls on third-party topics, Saratov residents who really need help suffer.
The problem lies in the organizational component – according to the rules, operators do not have the right to be the first to hang up. As a result, line “112” is busy.
Yuri Yuri added that since the beginning of the fire hazardous season, more than 250 hot spots have been recorded – however, only a part of them has been confirmed. Half of the fires were significant. Among them – uncontrolled arson and last year’s dry grass and reeds fell.