Ministries form joint committee on new 999 emergency call system

The government is establishing a joint committee involving the Health and Communications ministries to ensure the smooth operation of the Next Generation (NG) Mers 999 emergency call system.

In a joint statement by Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad and Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil, the committee will scrutinise the system on the aspects of technicality and operations.

It is also to coordinate among agencies in dealing with emergency cases.

“The committee is also responsible for ensuring its (NG Mers 999) delivery system remains smooth and safe, including taking immediate action to improve the system from time to time.

“They will also prepare weekly reports to the cabinet on the status of implementation, operational efficacy, key performance indicators, and suggest short-term and long-term solutions,” the ministries added.

Yesterday, Malaysiakini reported that the Health Ministry will temporarily revert its medical emergency call and ambulance dispatching system to the old Mers 999.

This followed complaints about the new system that many emergency calls failed to get through, while ambulances were sent to faraway locations beyond their jurisdiction.

This was confirmed to Malaysiakini by a Health Ministry official.

Improving the system

On that note, the ministries said the authorities are continuously working to ensure the NG Mers 999 works optimally.

They said work to stabilise the system and improve its capabilities is being implemented in stages, focusing on data accuracy and inter-agency coordination.

“And we stress that the NG Mers 999 emergency call system is not a replacement for the conventional 999 emergency call system,” they added.

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