During the October storms, the Shoreham lifeboat was called out to rescue a boat in trouble, somewhere between the pier and marina. It turned out to be a hoax. The crew of that lifeboat, like the crews of nearly all lifeboats, are volunteers who selflessly, and with immense courage, put their lives on the line to save others. In this instance they risked their lives to search rough seas for an hour, in gale force eight winds, for a non-existent yacht.

Although not volunteers, our firefighters, paramedics and police will be deployed regularly as the result of hoax calls. I cannot comprehend why somebody thinks making such a hoax call is either acceptable or funny. No matter how bored you are, it’s a sickening act that could easily lead to the loss of an innocent life.

Our emergency services have not been immune to the cuts and numerous austerity budgets of the current and previous government. Having to devote frontline services to deal with non-existent emergencies endangers lives. It’s not just the lives of the people attending the call, in the case of the lifeboat, but potentially the lives of people genuinely needing help, who may not be attended to as quickly when the service they need is deployed elsewhere.

Manning a lifeboat as a volunteer is one of the bravest acts I can imagine. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution was founded by Sir William Hillary in 1824, though the need for boats being stationed to help those in distress at sea goes back much further. Newhaven, for example, had such a station in 1803. Shoreham had its first lifeboat in 1863.

Since the establishment of the formal RNLI, it’s estimated that nearly 150,000 lives have been saved. And it’s not just people. Boats have been rescued that would otherwise have sank. Animals, such as sheep that get trapped on rocks and household pets have frequently also benefitted. All this is funded through public donation, up to £171million last year, with no government help.

Sometimes, people do mistakenly believe they see someone in danger, as happened on October 20th in Brighton. Somebody, with good intent, thought they had seen a person struggling in the sea near the Palace Pier. Such calls will lead to the launch of the lifeboat, even if the caller was mistaken and the details sketchy. It’s better to investigate than find out later it was no mistake and have somebody needlessly lose their life.

But those who deliberately make a hoax call, either leaving false personal details or, more likely, no details, need to be identified and charged. Such a call led to the Shoreham lifeboat being launched to help a non-existent yacht and its crew that was supposedly taking on water. This was in the tail of Storm Brian that had hit the south coast, resulting in very rough seas. In force eight gales, the lifeboat searched for an hour and concluded that it was indeed a hoax. Luckily no other boat needed help and all the crew returned safely, though I bet they were battered and exhausted.

There is something wrong in our society if people feel that calling emergency services to deal with non-existent fires, distress at sea, medical emergencies or incidents needing a police presence is an acceptable ‘jape’. It isn’t. To call it ‘childish’ does a disservice to children, the vast majority of whom understand such actions are wrong. To call it ‘sick’ underplays the gravity of the situation.

We are quick to criticise the emergency services when response times are slow, or they fail to provide what we need when we need it. I don’t think we do enough to prevent or track down those who feel making hoax calls is acceptable or just a joke.

November through to January are difficult months for the emergency services. With Fireworks come unintentional fires and injuries. The increasing number of Christmas parties, on top of the regular party atmosphere in our city centre, will create more work for our police and medical emergency staff. The New Year marks the end of that season, but not the end of the prank and hoax calls sadly.

Alongside the hoax callers are of course the people who make ridiculous, juvenile demands of the emergency services. The festive season – with increased alcohol consumption – is a prime time for silly calls. From demanding the police or ambulance act as a taxi service, to such infantile complaints such as being served a cold kebab, demanding police intervene to force the vendor to swap it for a hot one, the 999 operators have probably heard it all. What concerns me is that the people who make such calls seem incapable of understanding the stupidity of their actions. Some people need to grow up, seriously.