The Paris Fire Brigade are sounding the alarm. In a video posted on Twitter, they have expressed concern at a rise in frivolous calls to the ‘18’ emergency number last year.
🚨 A worrying rise in frivolous calls and unnecessary call-outs. ☎😡Last year, one in two calls handled by the Paris Fire Brigade did not require an emergency vehicle to be dispatched.⛔🚒❌ Help us save lives – please do not misuse emergency numbers.#Call18Life-ThreateningEmergency pic.twitter.com/CAsuEsQdak
— Paris Fire Brigade (@PompiersParis) 4 March 2019
In 2018, a total of 1,624,422 calls were handled via the 18/112 service. Of these, one in two is considered to be a false alarm. “Misusing emergency numbers seriously harms those who need them,” the fire service points out.
The Paris Fire Brigade also states that it carried out 522,883 call-outs in 2018, representing a 4.1 per cent increase compared with 2017. However, they lament that 100,000 of these call-outs were “unwarranted”.
293 firefighters assaulted
In this video, the Paris Fire Brigade also warns that, on the rise in attacks against them. “293 Paris firefighters were assaulted whilst on duty, representing 68 per cent,” the video states.