Concerned about the increase in daily prank calls, GNFS

 

Falsely claiming emergencies or setting off false alarms, or "prank calls," seriously impair the fire service's capacity to perform its core duties.

Fake calls may prolong the response time to genuine life-threatening situations by taking important resources and attention away from genuine crises. The GNFS, which is in charge of managing accidents, fires, and other emergencies, has to go through a lot of fake calls in order to recognize and react quickly to actual events.

Even though there were fewer fires in 2023 than in 2022, especially in the Ashanti Region, the increase in prank calls presents a serious obstacle to the Ghana Fire Service's ability to provide effective service.

The frightening amount of prank calls that are received every day deeply concerns ACFO Henry Fatai Giwah, the Ashanti Regional Fire Commander, in a recent conversation on CiTi TV.

Jokes on the phone don't go away. Even now, as you visit our control room every day. The quantity of hoax calls that arrive is evident. Over 200 on average every day.

And occasionally, if you don't conduct thorough investigations before dispatching, you discover that you sent someone in the wrong location. For this reason, we occasionally wish to give you a reminder call when you do.

One thing we accomplish is that we constantly want to call you back when you phone the fire department due to these hoax calls. And pay attention to the surroundings as well.

The public must comprehend the seriousness of filing false emergency reports and the toll it takes on the effectiveness of emergency services as the GNFS attempts to address this issue.