Barishal: Sometimes a single phone call can make the difference between panic and relief. For two families on Saturday, the national emergency service 999 became that lifeline-one helping a pregnant woman in severe labour pain aboard a moving launch, and the other reuniting a four-year-old girl with her mother after the child was accidentally left on a train.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the two incidents, occurring separately on September 19, once again highlighted how a phone call to the toll-free emergency number can quickly connect people in distress with the appropriate rescue agencies. Mass Media and Public Relations Officer of 999 National Emergency Service Anwar Sattar confirmed the incidents.
The National Emergency Service 999 operates round the clock and connects people with police, fire service, and ambulance-related emergency assistance. On Saturday night, a passenger aboard Dhaka-bound Doel Pakhi-10 launch called 999 after a pregnant woman began suffering severe labour pain shortly after the vessel left Ulania Kaliganj launch terminal in Mehendiganj, Barishal. The caller told 999 that the woman was crying in pain and that her physical condition was deteriorating.
999 immediately alerted the Coast Guard control room in Narayanganj and the Narayanganj Zone River Police outpost to take necessary action. The call was received by 999 call taker Constable Karuna Sarker, while 999 dispatcher ASI Masum Billah supervised and coordinated the rescue operation. Acting on the alert, a rescue team from the Bangladesh Coast Guard's Pagla station in Narayanganj rushed to the moving launch in a speedboat. The team rescued the ailing woman and brought her to Dhaka's Sadarghat as quickly as possible. She then went to a nearby private hospital for medical treatment.
The incident is reminiscent of another recent 999-assisted rescue in which Coast Guard personnel reached a moving Bhola-Dhaka launch to rescue a critically ill seven-month-old infant suffering from breathing distress. Earlier on Saturday afternoon, another emergency call led to the rescue of a three-to-four-year-old girl who was inadvertently left aboard a moving train.
A passenger at Narsingdi Railway Station called 999 after finding the child on a train. The caller said he believed the girl's family had got off at Brahmanbaria Railway Station. According to information provided through the call, the girl's mother had been travelling with her daughter from Kulaura in Sylhet to Brahmanbaria aboard the Kalni Express. When the train reached Brahmanbaria, the mother got off with her luggage amid heavy crowds but could not get her daughter down from the train. The train eventually departed for Dhaka, leaving the child aboard.
999 immediately informed the Railway Police control room and requested an urgent rescue operation. The call was received by 999 call taker Constable Mitu, while 999 dispatcher ASI Tarun Kumar Acharya supervised and coordinated the response. When the train reached Narsingdi, a team from Narsingdi Railway Police Station rescued the child and took her to the police station. Later, the girl's family reached the Narsingdi Railway Police Station, where the child was safely handed over to them.
Such incidents demonstrate a key feature of the 999 emergency system: the caller does not necessarily need to know which agency should respond. Once information about an emergency is received, 999 can relay it to the relevant police, fire service, Coast Guard, railway police or other emergency responders. The service has also played a role in rescuing people trapped in road accidents and floodwaters. In one reported case, firefighters rescued 13 people, including a pregnant woman, children, and an infant, after receiving a 999 alert during flooding.
These cases show how, in moments when people may be unable to reach a police station, hospital, or rescue agency themselves, 999 can serve as the first link between a person in distress and the responders who can reach them. At the same time, unnecessary and fake calls place significant pressure on the emergency system and can delay assistance to people facing genuine emergencies. For the pregnant woman aboard the launch and the little girl travelling alone on a train, however, the calls were genuine-and timely intervention turned two moments of distress into stories of rescue and relief.