OPINION: Macabre games damage all.

False calls cause monthly losses to the Panama Fire Department of approximately $600,000. These false alarms not only make it necessary to spend the limited resources of the red shirts, but physically deplete their staff, and divert the attention they should have towards true emergencies. This culture of teasing, mockery or simply playing with emergency services is extended to line 911, the National Police and the National Civil Protection, all of which does a very serious damage to the country since it prevents offering the due attention to all the citizens. It would be very easy to blame this problem on the authorities for not applying severe sanctions to those causing these false alarms, but simple common sense forces us to point out the obvious: citizens are responsible for defending our emergency services. Only citizen awareness can put an end to this macabre games.- LA PRENSA, Oct. 2