Dial 999 for emergencies only: Dubai Police

Dubai: Police are urging members of the public to only dial the 999 number in cases of true emergency.

Police said they received more than 17,000 calls during the Eid holidays, however about 3,000 of these were either general enquiries, wrong numbers or bogus emergencies.

Using the number for general enquiries placed extra and unnecessary strain on emergency resources, police said. Colonel Omar Al Shamsi, Director of Control Room at the Operations Department at Dubai Police said: "The public has to understand that the number 999 exists to help someone who is in urgent need for help or an emergency, such as an accident, heart attack, fire and other dangerous situations".

"When you call for a general enquiry, you are holding up the line and a person going through a serious accident may not be able to reach the police," he said. In 2009, Dubai Police received more than two million calls, of which 52 per cent could be described as general enquiries.

"This is the biggest problem we face as a police operations room," Col Al Shamsi said.

Specific country

Police said a total of 17,697 calls were made to the 999 emergency number during the Eid holidays, of which 2,227 were general enquiries, 442 were the wrong number, and 245 were bogus emergencies.

"We receive many calls that do not require the assistance of the police such as someone enquiring of a location of a mall or asking for the area code number of a specific country," he said.

Operators are required to phone back if someone hangs up after dialling 999, to enquire about the reason for hanging up. If the caller picks up the phone and doesn't speak because of an injury or any other reason, a police patrol car is sent to the location immediately.