Chennai: ‘Panic Button’ an Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) for women was launched across 18 states including Tamil Nadu on Tuesday.
The Panic Button will now enable women in distress to make emergency calls through a single number "112" that will connect her to the police, fire, health and other helplines through an Emergency Response Centre (ERC).
For enabling the safety tool, one needs to dial 112 from the phone and press power button on smartphones three times to connect to the ERC. Those who do not have a smartphone may long press "5" or "9" key on their phone to activate the panic call.
For seamless service of the safety tool, the ERC will coordinate with District Coordination Centres (DCCs) deployed by respective states.
The ministry of home affairs has come up with a suite of smart software applications to be used by the team of "call-takers" and dispatchers who constitute the ERC. The call-takers will be equipped to the source location of the caller through interaction, or smart phone's GPS location services.
The Central government has allocated '321.69 crore from the Nirbhaya Fund to implement the ERSS project across the country.
Speaking to the press, M.Ravi, IPS, Additional Commissioner of Police, Chennai Traffic said that in case of health emergencies, most people do not know whom to contact. "There are so many numbers, 100, 108, etc. In the US, '911' is an immediate response system. Here we think that we don't have it. To change that, we are implementing '112.' Within 6 months, '112' will be that immediate response number," he said.
One will not have to note down and remember several numbers, he said. "The number will be integrated with all the others, 108, 100, and other services. So all the others need not be used. Soon, everything will be 112," Ravi said.
