Related News
Home 禄 Opinion 禄 Chinese Views
Eek! A mouse! Call 119 for rescue
By Jeanne Wu |
September 17, 2009, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
ALMOST every Chinese knows 119 is the number to dial in case of emergency or fire.
It's not the number to call for mice stuck in a glue trap, for hornets' nest removal or for lost home and car keys.
News reports lately indicate a rise in trivial but time-consuming complaints. Two silly timid girls in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, phoned 119 on September 6 for firefighters to help after a mouse got stuck in a trap made of glue.
Fire departments are required to respond to almost every request. In this case, the fire department sent a fire truck with four armed firefighters to help the girls dispose of the terrifying little mouse. Similar ridiculous cases abound.
Over 50 percent of last month's 119 calls to the fire department in Xuchang City, Henan Province, were about hornets' nests.
A firefighter friend in Shanghai tells me the department often gets 911 calls to remove a hornet's nest or help people a home or car door when they forget their keys.
Calling 119 for such trivial things not only wastes time and energy but also may endanger public security in case of emergency when resources are spread thin.
At the same time, however, frequent calls for firefighters exposes the lack of efficient neighborhood services at a time when China's old communities, where everyone helped each other, are dying away. In most neighborhoods today, you seldom know who lives next door.
It's not the number to call for mice stuck in a glue trap, for hornets' nest removal or for lost home and car keys.
News reports lately indicate a rise in trivial but time-consuming complaints. Two silly timid girls in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, phoned 119 on September 6 for firefighters to help after a mouse got stuck in a trap made of glue.
Fire departments are required to respond to almost every request. In this case, the fire department sent a fire truck with four armed firefighters to help the girls dispose of the terrifying little mouse. Similar ridiculous cases abound.
Over 50 percent of last month's 119 calls to the fire department in Xuchang City, Henan Province, were about hornets' nests.
A firefighter friend in Shanghai tells me the department often gets 911 calls to remove a hornet's nest or help people a home or car door when they forget their keys.
Calling 119 for such trivial things not only wastes time and energy but also may endanger public security in case of emergency when resources are spread thin.
At the same time, however, frequent calls for firefighters exposes the lack of efficient neighborhood services at a time when China's old communities, where everyone helped each other, are dying away. In most neighborhoods today, you seldom know who lives next door.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
