Command Center 112 Surabaya personnel receive reports from the public in the control room located on the second floor of the Siola building in Surabaya, East Java, Thursday (18/5). Command Center 112, which was established in July 26, 2016, operates 24 hours a day to receive reports from the public about fires, traffic accidents, floods and social conflicts and boasts a response time of less than 10 minutes.
If the United States has the emergency number 911, Surabaya has 112. The service does not only deal with residents’ emergencies, and citizens can even seek free assistance for trapped cats through the 112 Command Center. All information, reports and complaints will be followed up within 10 minutes.
The incident on Friday (23/6) is one example. In dialing 112, Nina, 43, a resident of Ketintang in Gayungan district, Surabaya, sought help in rescuing her cat, which had been trapped for 20 hours between two walls. She contacted the command center staff at 4:48 a.m. for assistance for her cat.
About seven minutes later, officers from the Fire Department, the Public Order Agency and the Disaster Management Agency arrived at the location she indicated. They made a hole around 30 centimeters in diameter to free the cat. By 5:50 a.m., the cat was rescued safely. “I was surprised the officers arrived so quickly. I made call so early in the morning,” Nina said.
In another case, Surabaya Social Services office head Supomo said a woman was about to deliver a baby. Her water had already broken. The woman went to a hospital in Bilangan, Wonokromo, but was refused, because she did not have the recommendation letter from a public health clinic (puskesmas) necessary to charge her treatment under the national social security (BPJS).
The problem was that the puskesmas was closed on Saturday. “She called 112. Within 30 minutes, the team and an ambulance arrived and took the woman to Soewandi Hospital, where she was taken care of,” Supomo said.
Citizens can also file complaints with the 112 Command Center for other issues such as crimes, fires, traffic accidents, fallen trees, riots, floods or finding a body. They will send appropriate personnel to the location immediately.
The emergency response is controlled from the 112 Command Center, located on the second floor of the Siola Building on Jl. Tunjungan, Surabaya. The center has a staff of 45 people who are divided into three shifts and are tasked with monitoring the city of 315 square kilometers for 24 hours.
Integration
The staff at 112 Command Center hail from the Transportation Office, Fire Department, Sanitation and Parks Agency, the Social Service Agency, the Roads division of the Public Works Office, the Public Order Agency, the Disaster Management Agency and the Surabaya Police. The center is also integrated with the Health Office and the Surabaya Red Cross.
“The personnel of the 112 Command Center are selected through psychological tests,” Supomo said.
The staff monitor the city’s condition through dozens of monitors displaying images captured by 1,000 CCTV cameras across the city. The CCTVs can also be accessed by the Surabaya Mayor’s office and the Surabaya Police chief.
The staff also receive calls from the city’s citizens and forward them to the appropriate field officers to follow up. Eight telephone units are dedicated to receiving citizens’ complaints.
Dimas Andrianto, 28, a Fire Department officer posted at the 112 Command Center, said staff members had to respond to any and all calls, even if they were not related to the staffer’s field. They worked as a team, not as representatives of their individual public service agencies. “If the call is about a fire and the officer on duty is not from the Fire Department, the officer will still coordinate with the relevant office. Everyone has the same duties. They do not prioritize [issues related to] their own agencies,” Dimas said.
Every day, Dimas receives more than 300 calls during a single shift, mostly related to fires or accidents. The complaints must be followed up. On occasion, there are prank calls from people wanting phone vouchers or a girlfriend.
“It is better to check the calls first. Sometimes, the officers found that the calls were bogus,” he said.
Surabaya Public Order Agency head Irvan Widyanto said the establishment of the 112 Command Center had eliminated sectorial egoism among the agencies. All complaints are received at one number. Before the 112 was setup, each agency had their own emergency number. This made it difficult for citizens to remember which number to call in an emergency.
“It is now easier for the residents to seek help. They are no longer confused in an emergency situation. There is one number for the ambulance, fire truck or police,” Irvan said.
Distribution
Five command posts are spread out through Surabaya in order to speed up call handling and response. The command posts are located at City Hall, at the former prosecutor’s office on Jl. Kaswari to the north, at the Tandes subdistrict office to the west, at the former trade and industry office on Jl, Arif Rahman Hakim to the east, and at the transportation office to the south.
Each command post is manned by 150 officers from the Disaster Management Agency, 150 from the Public Order Agency and 150 from the Fire Department. They are on standby24 hours, ready to follow instructions from the Siola Command Center on citizens reports. “They will contact the post nearest the caller for the fastest response,” Irvan said.
Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini said she hoped the 112 Command Center could provide maximum services to citizens. She did not want the state to exist only when it needed citizens. The state must exist for the citizenry when they need it, even beyond working hours.The service must be responsive so that all problems can be overcome and the citizens do not have to wait very long.
“The citizens of this city must feel secure, leaving the [city] apparatus to guard and protect them,” she said.
The 112 emergency service allowed residents to obtain assistance with ease, Risma said, because it was free of charge and the number was easy to remember. The interval between the initial call and the response will not take longer than seven minutes. “The 112 service makes it easy for residents to report anything in their area. The coverage of the service is more than that of911 in the United States,” said the former head of Surabaya Sanitation and Parks Agency.
The social and political sciences department head at Airlangga University, Falih Suaedi, said the ease in making reports through 112 could improve the culture of citizen participation. The Surabaya administration’s innovation in using advanced technology has resulted in a responsive service.
Since its establishment on July 26, 2016, the 112 Command Center has continually carried out public socialization efforts.
Now, the public is encouraged to make use of and maximize the services that bring the state to the people’s aid for 24 hours. A resident can simply call 112 and the operator will answer: “Hello, Surabaya City services. May I assist you?”
The service acts as the eyes and ears of the city and is ready 24 hours a day, every day. As a result, its citizens can sleep in safety and at peace.
