When the residents of the city were
busy biting into their Christmas cakes and sipping that glass of delicious wine, few good Samaritans were out in the streets catering to emergency calls of people in desperate need of medical attention. Though Christmas was a holiday all over the state the GVK EMRI 108 Emergency Services stood guard in their positions, as alert as ever to any incoming call 24/7.
Better known as The Wheels of Hope, the 108 emergency service was launched in Shillong on February 2, 2009 and since then has been of tremendous help to the city.
The 108 customer care centre which received 547 calls on Dec 24, catered to 756 calls on Dec 25 out of which 81 were emergency calls. A customer care executive with the 108 services said that she feels satisfied even while working on a holiday as it was a place of employment with a difference. “I don’t feel that my holiday has been wasted because my presence can help save a precious life,” said the executive.
A senior official said that it is an emergency service and any such services all over the world works 24×7 and 365 days a year. “Our manpower is pressed into service in three shifts on a rotation period. Even on the field if ambulances are attending calls in far off places such as Mawsynram, these employees follow a roster which runs on a weekly basis,” said the official.
“It is giving bread and butter to the team working and we are more than happy to serve the society by means of our employment,” he added.
Meanwhile, residents who have availed 108 services have hailed their response level. “Everything here moves at a snail’s pace be it the state government or the Shillong bypass project. But among these snails, the service of 108 reminds one that still there is hope,” said a resident of Lachaumiere.
Another such resident, who had the dreadful experience of government run ambulances earlier, is now happy with the services of 108. “Anything can happen in a matter of seconds. It’s comforting though to know that at least the ambulance is just a call away,” she said. (Rajib Roy)