Calls to Emergency Services Over Dropped Bananas: Minister Urges Seriousness

Employees of the rescue service often suffer from psychological trauma due to their work. This was stated today by Armenia's Minister of Emergency Situations, Felix Tsolakyan, during a discussion on the report regarding the process of implementing reforms and the results achieved at a meeting of the Permanent Commission on Defense and Security of the Parliament.

The minister noted that a significant portion of the calls received by the Ministry of Emergency Situations are either false alarms or not relevant.

Tsolakyan characterized these phone calls as “capricious calls.” He shared some examples stating, “We receive calls saying, for instance, that a child's banana has fallen from the third floor. Can we go and return it to the child? Or we get calls saying a cat has climbed a tree and they haven’t been able to get it down for four days. There have even been much more serious cases. One woman called the rescue service and said her husband is in very serious condition and needs help to get him into a car, as they need to go somewhere. The rescuers arrive, help, carry the man to the car, and then the woman says they will return at 6:00 PM to take her husband back upstairs,” the minister expressed his dissatisfaction.