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New busters in town
By Mahangu Weerasinghe
You've seen it a million times in the movies. There's a burglary, a fire, someone's in trouble. Who do you call? 911, right? And the Police, Fire brigade or Paramedics arrive within minutes? Well, that's not just in the movies anymore. From April, a similar service, with similar response times, will be available in Colombo. It's called Code Red, and it hopes to change the way the city looks at emergencies. Code Red will combine with the Sri Lanka Police Department, Fire Department, Apollo Hospitals, and Medi Calls to provide emergency services.

Roshan Wijithananda, Code Red's Director of Operations, outlining the role of this new service said its role would be to contain an emergency situation until the arrival of professionals. The Sri Lanka emergency response has for years been plagued by slow response times and inadequate coverage. The De Zoysa Organization, which identified this need, set about finding a solution for the speedy management of emergencies. Having decades of experience in security logistics and services, the people behind this new initiative know enough about handling emergencies. "When the nerve centre receives a call from a customer, an emergency team will be deployed immediately," said Richard De Zoysa, Chairman, Code Red. "Our fire response team will work in partnership with the Fire Department, while our security team will work in partnership with the Police," he said. Similarly, Code Red will team up with Apollo Hospitals and Medi Calls to bring its customers medical services.

In addition, Code Red premium members will be entitled to a nightly visit from a Code Red Elite Patrol team as well as insurance cover, 24-hour safety deposit lockers and round the clock vehicle breakdown services. "In the silent hours, we guarantee that a vehicle maintenance team will be at the scene of the breakdown within ten minutes," Mr. Wijithananda said. In addition, premium members will also receive discount rates on personal guard services and secure transportation.

"We like to think of Code Red more as a social service than a business venture. For example, a Code Red team on night patrol will not ignore a burglary in another house," Mr. Wijithananda said. At a time when the crime rate in the city is skyrocketing, we think that the nightly patrol may help to curb it," Mr. De Zoysa said.

Although the Code Red premium membership comes at a cost of Rs. 18,000 + VAT a year, the membership perks, if used properly, could outweigh this investment, they believe. "For example, Mobil lubricants will give Code Red premium customers discounts on oil purchased from them," Mr. De Zoysa said.

“Several key businesses including supermarkets and other convenience establishments will also provide similar discounts to Code Red members," he said. "If the Code Red customer takes advantage of all these offers, he can easily make up the Rs. 1,500 a month," he said.

The Code Red response system or 'nerve centre' will also be a state of the art facility. The latest technology, including custom developed software will be used to identify the resident within seconds of a distress call. "We will have every minute detail about the resident, from his blood type to his hair colour," said Mr. Wijithananda.

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