The 911 Emergency Hotline at the Sorsogon Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) was formally launched in Sorsogon City to start serving the residents of Sorsogon province.
Sorsogon Governor Chiz Escudero said the 911 hotline has undergone a series of test runs and is operational 24/7 under the supervision of the PDRRMO.
“This is the typical 911 emergency hotline that we have seen on television, equipped with computer and communication systems manned by trained personnel to entertain, and assist emergency calls in times of emergencies such as medical assistance, fire, accidents, crimes and other disaster related events,” Escudero said.
“The 911 command center would be manned by nine trained personnel.”
He said the 911 command center would be manned by nine trained personnel — a center administrator, encoder and seven registered nurses to act as call center operators.
When asked why he hired nurses as tele-communicators, Escudero explained he preferred nurses as they could immediately give medical advice to callers.
“Our responders can promptly assist the caller on how to give first aid while waiting for the responders.”
“Situation has it that every time we have an emergency call, callers always get panic so under this condition our responders can promptly assist the caller on how to give first aid while waiting for the responders,” he said.
Also, a Global Positioning System (GPS) has been installed in all emergency vehicles at the PDRRMO as well as the fire trucks of the Bureau Fire Protection units across the province.
Escudero also plans to install GPS in ambulances of private hospitals in the province.
Meanwhile, to create awareness on the 911 emergency hotline, he has tapped the services of the Sorsogon Electric Cooperatives (SORECO 1 and II) to post the designated 911 control number of villages at electric posts for easy reference of responders.
Escudero likewise asked the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to pass an ordinance prescribing sanctions and penalties against “prank callers” using the 911 hotline.
“This is a work in progress. Please don’t expect it to be perfect at the onset. Please don’t expect it to not have any problems from the beginning. It will encounter some difficulties and growing pains, but hopefully, in the next couple of weeks or utmost months, smoothly running na po ang ating 911 system,” he concluded.