The Drive to Save Lives
Continued
Just as pressing was the desire to create the capacity to scale the operation beyond the single state of Andhra Pradesh. "There have been isolated attempts to address emergency care in India," says Changavalli, "but they have failed because they could not scale up. Scale is a big issue." When EMRI was launched in August 2005 in Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh, the plan was to launch in four more towns in September, five more in the first quarter of 2006, and an additional 40 by June 30, 2006. In every instance, the goals were met, and that pace of rapid expansion has continued, making it worth the effort of creating a system with capacity to scale. Solid, scalable back-end systems also allow for easier front-end changes in interface, such as languages spoken, as the 1-0-8 model is adopted in a broader area.
"We tracked the type and volume of calls expected, so that in terms of specifications, we could build a system from the beginning that would grow," notes Changavalli. "In January 2007, we were receiving 10,000 calls each day from a population of 25 million. By May, the population we serve more than tripled to 80 [million]. The awareness of 1-0-8 was only around 40 percent early in 2007. If this awareness goes to 100 percent and the 25 million goes to 1,000 million, which is what we anticipate, the number of calls will go to 1 million by 2010."
1-0-8 Saves Lives
EMRI's 1-0-8 emergency number joins 18 emergency numbers already in use around the globe, most of them publicly sponsored. From Australia's 0-0-0, Moscow's 0-5-1, and France's 1-7 to the 1-1-2 used by several European countries, each jurisdiction has its own reasons for choosing the digits that represent emergency response. India's 1-0-8 was chosen for reasons both cultural and practical, but there is one defining factor that underscores for CEO Changavalli how important the public/private partnerships are that make the system work. "These kinds of undertakings require friendship amongst the partners," he says. "If you give numerical values to the alphabet—
A is 1,
B is 2,
C is 3—and you add up the numbers that make 'friendship,' you will arrive at 108."
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Molly Rose Teuke is a freelance writer specializing in technology and business issues.
