'People think it's funny'
2007-09-08 15:52
Johannesburg - Paramedics on Saturday appealed to the public to refrain from registering prank calls as it prevented paramedics from tending to "real" emergencies.
ER 24 spokesperson Derrick Banks said the service had been receiving a number of hoax calls over the last three days, in the Belville area in Cape Town in particular.
"People think it's funny. We are risking our lives to get to scenes on time, only to discover it's a hoax," he said.
On Thursday, the service responded to a call at the Pick 'n Pay in Belville and, on arrival, discovered that the call had been a hoax.
On Friday, paramedics responded to two more false calls in the area.
Emergency services in the area then received another hoax call on Saturday.
"These calls are holding up emergency workers from doing their proper jobs in the long run.
"...we take every call as an emergency, no matter what... these calls tie up resources on all sides," Banks said.
Police were investigating the incidents, he added.
- SAPA