Ranchi, April 22: Every time the phone inside the emergency ambulance control room at Rajendra Institute of Medical Science (RIMS) rings, attendants either nonchalantly pick up the receiver or struggle with the idea of ignoring the call.

It is not exactly dereliction of duty. They sure do empathise with people in need of urgent medical attention, but are tired of pranks.

“Ever since the emergency numbers (102, 2541228) were floated three years ago, we have been swamped with such calls. We are often unable to decide which call is genuine and which is not,” said Vinod Kumar, a RIMS telephone operator in the afternoon shift.

“On an average, I receive a minimum of 50-60 calls a day and 99 per cent of them come from pranksters. Some are smut calls too. These days, I hang up as soon as I hear a female voice at the other end,” he added.

The intensity of calls increases during the night.

“You can’t ignore a call being on hospital duty. There may be an emergency and your negligence may cost a life. But most of the time the caller abuses us; sometimes, they demand pizza or coffee and sometimes, they wish to get more intimate,” Umesh, a night telephone operator said.

Operator Kumar, who is working at the hospital for three years now, said he had never received a serious call for ambulance.

RIMS director Tulsi Mahto agreed. He claimed the hospital management was helpless since even police complaints had failed to check the nuisance. “I gave a written complaint to the SSP, but nothing came out of it,” he said, pointing out that the men in uniform too were grappling with crank calls. “The SSP said they faced similar problems at Dial 100, the fire and police helpline.”

To curb the menace, the hospital had connected a parallel line to the offices of assistant casualty officer, chief medical officer and PRO on the premises. “But they refused to monitor calls after a day. The calls are often so abusive that no one wants to receive them,” Mahto said.

“I have asked the operators to keep saying, ‘welcome to RIMS’, whenever they face pranksters or smut calls. No one can be forced to tolerate such a situation,” he added.

The RIMS management has recently also installed a caller ID. “But it is very difficult to keep tab always. The hospital witnesses heavy rush all day long. No one has time,” the director said.

When contacted, Ranchi SSP Praveen Kumar said the number of crank calls on Dial 100 had decreased after they rounded up some culprits in the past. “It is a time-taking, but we trapped 10-15 callers, mostly young people, who were creating such nuisance. They were released with a warning,” he said.

“We have asked the RIMS authorities to tap numbers and forward them to us for action,” he added.