9-1-1
in Ethiopia?
Living in the West, many of us are accustomed to using public transportation. Occasionally, we meet our fellow Ethiopians. We send a signal by gently bowing our heads to indicate our Ethiopianess. Then conversation starts by asking, “Abesha neh or Abesha nesh?” Depending on whom we meet most of the time the answers are positive. As usual, while I was riding a train to work, I met, a very excited young man who was happy to meet and talk with his fellow Ethiopians, who was new to North America (NA). We talked about the weather and life in NA in general. He told me that he was attending a collage taking “English as a Second Language.” With amusement he said, “Yesterday, our instructor was asking the students about emergency phone numbers. Students from Asia, Europe, and Latin American told her their numbers. They mentioned numbers like 911, 000, 112, etc. When it was my turn, I said I don’t know. I was ashamed. Do you know if we have one?” My reply was, “Sorry, I don’t know either. Ethiopia being the Capital of Africa and with Addis Ababa the third most important diplomatic city in the world after New York and Geneva, I hope we have one.” His question prompted me to research on Ethiopia’s emergency phone numbers.
For many of us residing in NA, 911 is a phone number that is dialed when someone is distress. For instance, for house in fire, for crimes in progress, for medical emergency, for child or spousal abuses, and for any life threatening incidents, the 911 is a life saving phone number.
There are different emergency phone numbers through out the world. For instance, Australia 000, United Kingdom 999 or 112, Djibouti (17 for police and 18 for Fire), see Appendix A. Almost all European and many Asian country citizens have the privilege of using emergency numbers to effectively save human lives, stop crimes in progress, reduce the potentially huge loss of property damages, and deter any illegal activities.
As I was googling through the web, I found an article not related to emergency phone numbers but talked about how most people in Addis do not know what the Addis Ababa/Ethiopia emergency phone numbers are. This was written by someone who had briefly resided in Addis Ababa,
“Let me tell you, finding a police
station was a huge challenge. I understand that Addis Ababa is revered as one of the safest if not the safest city in
Africa. But still, you have to have clearly visible, easily accessible and enough police
stations to serve your community. If going to the police was
such a huge ordeal, how do you expect people to seek help? Most people here [in Addis Ababa] don’t even know
what the emergency phone number is!” a blogger[1]
Some may argue that there is no need for emergency phone
numbers as long as we have police standing on every corner of the streets. The
answer depends on how quickly does the emergency response team responds.
Moreover, it depends if police officers are equipped with fire extinguishers or
trained to provide medical emergency procedures. In a highly diplomatic city like Addis, it is prudent to have a few
digit emergency phone numbers for the following reasons. First, it is easy to
remember. Second, having this number known to the public will likely to save
more lives, stops crime in progress, deters criminal activities, and
significantly reduces child and spousal abuses. Third, it shows that our
government cares for its citizens.
I am not saying that we should have three digit emergency
phone numbers to pretend we are civilized. The numbers can be four, three, or
two. What matters is the value that our elected officials give to human lives,
properties, children, and others. I can also understand making this phone
number available to the public introduces huge responsibility and
accountability. It requires more human resources, ambulances, infrastructure,
and others.
Way back when I was in Addis, our 911 was, “Screaming out
loud for help”, “Ababa Erdugn”, or asking one of our neighbours who owns a car
to take us to the hospital, and others. As children, running away from our
parents’ “dulla”, “Alenga” or “Betir”, we run to our neighbours for rescue. Can
you remember the amount of pleading that went on with our parents and the
rescuers? Some people may say those are the good times. I would say as a result
of those “dullas”, we became timid and introvert with a low IQ for creativity.
My point is not to bring ourselves down but to speak of the fact that we had no
emergency phone numbers that was accessible to all Ethiopians, particularly,
Addis Ababans. My emphasis of Addis Ababa is for purpose. Since Addis Ababa is
one of the most important diplomatic city of the world after the establishment
of OAU now AU, I would have expected our past and present governments to
implement and made the few figure emergency phone numbers public.
In my research I also found the following emergency phone
numbers for Addis Ababa and Federal Police. If the City police’s phone number
is 911, then my question is why is it not publicized to the public?
City Police: 911
011 157 21 00/157 21 21/157 21 57
Federal Police: 011 552 40 77/552 63 02/552 63 03[2]
For
the sake of argument, let’s say a child is badly abused by either parents or
strangers, do you think that the child would remember “011 157 21 00” or a
simple number like “911” or “000”. I am not suggesting our emergency number
should be 911 or 000 but the fact is a few digits are easier to remember.
According
to the World Telephone Numbering Guide[3],
it lists the short digit phone numbers for the Ethiopian Telecommunication as
follows.
Code Service--- -------900 internet dialup901 Time (Amharic)902 Time (English)903 Fixed prepaid904 Prepaid mobile refill/info.905 EEPCO906 Water and sewers907 Red Cross908 voice mail911 Police information912 Fire913 HIV/AIDS Council914 Orthodox Church915 Federal police916 Federal police commission918 Capacity building919 Family planning920 Mobile call centre929 Number change information951 Commercial Bank of Ethiopia952 HIV Prevention Office953 Insurance Enterprise954 water and sewers955 water and sewers956 water and sewers957 water and sewers958 water and sewers959 water and sewers960 telephone faults961 telephone faults962 telephone faults963 telephone faults964 telephone faults965 telephone faults966 telephone faults967 telephone faults969 mobile faults997 ETC call centre [was 97]998 international operator [was 98]999 national operator [was 99][4]
As
you can see: Police is 911, Fire 912, and Red Cross 907. If these numbers do existence, does the public know about them, does the
public have the right to know them, or do these number function?
Ethiopian economy is going at a faster pace. Our government should do its best to provide security and peace to the public. One method of doing that is to have easily remembered emergency phone numbers available to the public. Availability will be fruitless unless it was publicized to the public on various media and effectively functioning. Certainly, having the number widely known demands that more budget is required to train highly skilled emergency response team, to purchase ambulances, to build call centers, and others. Even though I strongly believe that we have 911 (Police) for the diplomatic community, it should be extended to the public. Furthermore, this number should combine the essential emergency services such as Fire, Police, and Medical. We need to have a call centre where a call can be redirected to the right emergency response team.
A safe, peaceful, and secure country with a fast growing economy is an attractive place for investors and entrepreneurs. Ethiopia is a safe and peaceful place but we have a long way to go.
Our city, Addis Ababa, is going through a face lift. The changes that are taking place to make our city modernized are encouraging. The ruling party deserves a credit for endeavoring to lift our country from misery and economic dependence. I am asking the ruling party to modernize our emergency response system since this is also an indication of civilization. We are Ethiopians and nothing can stop us from going forward.
Next time, I meet a young Ethiopian in NA, I hope he/she will know what our emergency phone number is.
Appendix A.
A sample of emergency phone numbers by country. Ethiopia is not listed in this website.
|
Country |
Police |
Medical |
Fire |
|
17 |
|
18 |
|
|
17 |
|
18 |
|
|
122 |
123 |
180 |
|
|
191 or 999 |
193 or 999 |
192 or 999 |
|
|
City 19 |
|
15 |
|
|
10111 |
10177 |
10111 |
|
|
197 |
190 |
198 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
995 or 999 |
994 or 999 |
993 or 999 |
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_telephone_number
