35% of 119 calls at Changhua’s Fire Bureau were false or invalid
35% of 119 calls at Changhua’s Fire Bureau were false or invalid
2025-09-16
When disaster strikes, every second matters. But in Changhua firefighters are finding themselves racing to emergencies that don’t exist. More than a third of the emergency calls received so far this year have been false or invalid. From prank calls to silent lines and canceled ambulance requests, the Fire Bureau says that misuse of the 119 emergency number is putting lives at risk. To stop abuse, it issued its first fine of the year, costing a repeat caller NT$10,000.
The dispatch center gets an emergency call and immediately sends out an ambulance.
Every second counts. But so far this year 35% of all calls received at Changhua’s Fire Bureau were false or invalid. Among the callers was a man who called for an ambulance six times.
- You’re the one not feeling good?
- Yes.
After a while, he called again to cancel.
- I want to cancel the ambulance.
- Really? Are you sure?
- I’ll just go to the hospital.
- OK, we’ll cancel the dispatch.
The ambulance had to turn back, empty. After so many false alarms, the man was fine dNT$10,000.
Liu Hsi-yuan
Changhua Fire Bureau
Sometimes they call saying a relative needs an ambulance and when we get there there’s nobody there. Or they cancel as we’re on our way. It wastes a lot of our resources.
Most of the invalid calls are silent calls and misdials, followed by intoxication and mental illness, malicious harassment and children playing around.
Liu Hsi-yuan
Changhua Fire Bureau
Don’t call 119 unless you’re in an emergency, and don’t make false reports. These limited resources should be used by those who need them.
Invalid emergency calls not only create extra unnecessary work for emergency responders, but also choke up phone lines, delaying real rescue operations. So don’t call 119 without reason, as you could end up with a fine and hurting others who need it.
For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53
#emergency #ambulance #fine #prank #changhua #taiwan #falsealarm #publicsafety #rescue
救護車空跑! 連打六通報案電話又取消 彰化男子罰1萬
2025-09-16
彰化縣消防局統計，今年至今受理的無效報案電話，占總數近三成五，其中最誇張的是，一名男子連打六通電話說需要緊急救護，接著又來電表示，已好轉或自行就醫，害救護車空跑，消防局開出今年首張罰單，開罰1萬元。
消防局勤務中心接獲報案電話派遣救護車出勤。
救人十萬火急，但消防局統計今年至今，無效報案電話占了總數近3成5，其中一名男子狂打6通電話說需要緊急救護。
-是你本人不舒服嗎?
-對。
隔了一下子，又打來取消。
-我想要取消剛剛那個。
-確定? 確定嗎?
-我自己去醫院就好。
-好沒關係，那我幫你取消。
也讓已經出勤的救護車空跑折返，多次勸導無效確認謊報，遭到開罰1萬元。
[[彰化消防局救災救護指揮科科長 劉錫垣]]
“謊報有家人的人需要救護車，到達現場又沒有這個人，甚至中途把你取消，造成我們消防人員及相關資源的浪費。”
彰化消防局也分析，無效報案中，以無聲電話最多，再來是撥號錯誤，依序是酒醉或精神異常、惡意騷擾及兒童嬉鬧。
[[彰化消防局救災救護指揮科科長 劉錫垣]]
“民眾不要無故撥打119，甚至謊報救災救護案件，將這有限的資源留給真正有需要的民眾。”
無效報案電話不僅帶給，處理緊急應變消防人員的困擾，增加工作負擔，占線更會影響救援時效，119報案電話別亂打、別謊報，小心觸法，留給真正有需要的人。
更多新聞內容，請鎖定：
民視台灣台（152頻道）週一至週五晚上9:30
民視新聞台（53頻道）週二至週六凌晨1:00
Related News
