Dial-108, or one-zero-eight is a free

telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...

number for

emergency An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...

services in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. It is currently operational in 18 states (

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Prad ...

, Goa,

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several pea ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO 15919, ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reor ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Ca ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the second ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India and the second-most populous country subdi ...

Meghalaya Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of Assam: (a) the United Khasi Hills and J ...

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 35 ...

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

, Jharkhand, Sikkim and

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 195 ...

) and two Union Territories (

Dadra & Nagar Haveli Dadra and Nagar Haveli is a district of the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu in western India. It is composed of two separate geographical entities: Nagar Haveli, wedged in between Maharashtra and Gujarat states to ...

and

Daman & Diu Daman and Diu (; ) was a former union territory in northwestern India. With an area of , it was the smallest administrative subdivision of India on the mainland. The territory comprised two districts, Damaon and Dio island, geographically s ...

). The 108 Emergency Response Service is a free emergency service providing integrated medical, police and fire emergency services. Government of Andhra Pradesh in Public Private Partnership with GVK EMRI launched the 108 Emergency Response Service on 15 August 2005
GVK Press Release
. This system was introduced nationwide by former Union Health Minister, Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss.In Madhya Pradesh, the 108 GVK Ambulance facility was implemented in July 2009 by Honorable Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan. It was inaugurated by Health Minister Mr. Narottam Mishra. The service is a public-private partnership between state governments and private EMS providers. This 108 service was rolled out initially by Ramalinga Raju and his family in August 2005. It was initially a private funded initiative, but later signed MOUs with multiple state governments from August 2007. In 2007, Chief minister Narendra Modi launched these services in Gujarat on 29 August 2007. With the life-saving service becoming so popular in the rural parts of combined Andhra Pradesh, the (108) system was later introduced by the Central government of India in other parts of India. The system was originally designed by Satyam Infotech. , this service had handled over 540,000 emergency cases in India. From year 2017 to 2022, 108 service in Jharkhand is operated by Ziqitza Healthcare Limited. On an iOS device, "Hey Siri, 108" command to Siri will place an emergency call. 108 Ambulance

History

108 is the toll free number for an initiative called emergency management and research institute. It was launched by Satyam Ramalingaraju and family in 2005 in Hyderabad. The existing independent emergency services (100 for police, 101 for fire and 102 for ambulance) worked erratically and independently of each other. Ramalingaraju wanted to integrate these services and launched 108 to provide quicker response for the emergencies. Apart from Ramalingaraju, G Venkata Krishna Reddy was the major contributor for implementing these services . Dr. A.P. Ranga Rao, has designed 108 EMRI service. In parallel to 108, Central government funded "Referential Transport System" was initiated under National Rural Health Mission. In Andhra pradesh Referential Transport system was supported through different NGOs from 2005 as PPP model. After Very first PPP model through tendering process in India was started in the Year 2007, Ziqitza Healthcare Limited was operating in Bihar from 2009 to 2019. RTS ambulance was slowly being implemented across the country and in Andhra Pradesh, it was implemented in 4 districts. To expand RTS ambulance service to other districts, Late Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Dr. Y.S.Rajasekhara Reddy has signed an MOU to utilize the Central government funds with the help of EMRI in 2007. EMRI has subsequently made similar kind of deal with other states nationwide. The previously existing 102 emergency service is now being used explicitly for pregnancy related emergencies.

Scope

The Dial-108 service is available in the Indian states of

, Goa,

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ...

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Sil ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . I ...

, and

, and two union territories;

Puducherry Puducherry or Pondicherry may refer to: * Puducherry (union territory), a union territory of India ** Pondicherry, capital of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry district, a district of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry t ...

Daman and Diu Daman and Diu (; ) was a former union territory in northwestern India. With an area of , it was the smallest administrative subdivision of India on the mainland. The territory comprised two districts, Damaon and Dio island, geographically s ...

, and

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...

How it works

When an

is reported, the call taker at the Emergency Response Centre (ERC) gathers the needed information, including location, and dispatches appropriate

emergency service Emergency services and rescue services are organizations that ensure public safety and health by addressing and resolving different emergencies. Some of these agencies exist solely for addressing certain types of emergencies, while others deal w ...

s; be that an ambulance, police assistance, or a fire engine. Emergency help dispatched through this process is expected to reach the location of the emergency in an average of 18 minutes. Pre-hospital care will be given to patients during transit to hospital. Patients are transported in

ambulance An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to med ...

s well equipped to handle emergency situations. Road and water ambulances are the two types of ambulances commonly used in India to transport patients. Two type of ambulances are Advanced Life support (ALS) and Basic Life support (BLS). Road ambulances are used across all its states. However, only a few states, namely Odisha, Assam, and Gujarat, along with two Union Territories, have been using

boat ambulance The water ambulance is a boat used for emergency medical care in island areas such as the city of Venice, Italy, the Isles of Scilly, UK or the Norway fjords. Dubai Dubai Ambulance Foundation has launched the "maritime ambulance project" in ...

s. Odisha was the first state to launch the boat ambulance by Ziqitza Healthcare Limited (ZHL) for remote areas. At present, there are only three providers: GVK Emergency Management and Research Institute (GVK EMRI), Ziqitza Healthcare Limited (ZHL), and Bharat Vikas Group India-UK Specialist Ambulance Services (BVG-UKSAS) who operate Dial-108 in Emergency in public private partnership with state governments. The service is normally free to patients. In Maharashtra, Jammu, Kashmir, Dial-108, and in JK in addition to Dial-108, Dial-102 ambulance services are being run by BVG India Ltd. Dial-102 service is for pregnant women and child. BVG India Ltd chairman and MD is Mr. Hanmantrao Gaikwad. And EMS CEO is Dr. Dnyaneshwar Shelke. In Maharashtra, Dial-108 is launched by state government form 2014, this is free service by the Government and is being operated by BVG India Ltd. It was also operating this service in Andhra Pradesh. In Madhya Pradesh BVG India also operating Dial-100 police helpline of the state government. In 2022, Ziqitza Healthcare Limited started operating Dial 112 along with 108 Service, This Dial 112 which is in similar model of 911 model. One can reach to reach out to police, health, fire, and other services by just dialing one helpline number.

Siri prank

In March 2017, the Dial-108 emergency telephone number became the subject of a prank, in which victims would be told to say 108 to

Siri Siri ( ) is a virtual assistant that is part of Apple Inc.'s iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, macOS, tvOS, and audioOS operating systems. It uses voice queries, gesture based control, focus-tracking and a natural-language user interface to answer qu ...

, which would in turn command it to dial the respective country's emergency services.

Other emergency numbers in India

* Women Helpline: 1091 * Women Helpline for Domestic Abuse: 181 * Air Ambulance: 9540161344 * Aids Helpline: 1097 * Anti Poison New Delhi: 1066 or 011-1066 * Disaster Management: 011-26701728-1078 * EARTHQUAKE / FLOOD / DISASTER N.D.R.F: 011-24-363-260 * Missing Child And Women: 1094 * Railway Enquiry: 139 * Senior Citizen Helpline: 1091 or 1291 * Railway Accident Emergency Service: 1072 * Road Accident Emergency Service: 1073 * Road Accident Emergency Service On National Highway For Private Operators: 1033 * ORBO Centre, AIIMS (For Donation Of Organ) Delhi: 1060 * Call Centre: 1551 * Relief Commissioner For Natural Calamities: 1070 * Children In Difficult Situation: 1098 * Central Vigilance Commission: 1964 * Tourist Helpline: 1363 or 1800111363 * LPG Leak Helpline: 1906

References

External links

*
VMEDO Emergency Ambulance Services App

Indian Helpline
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