Are you prepared to deal with an emergency while at work, home, travelling throughout Italy or the different countries in the European Union?
September is National Preparedness Month, and the goal is to increase United States Army Garrison Italy personnel and visitor preparedness for all emergencies. One crucial aspect of preparation is knowing emergency phone numbers.
The European Union has a standardized emergency phone number to reach the local community emergency services, and it is 112.
112 is the emergency phone number available everywhere in the EU. Dial the toll free number from mobile and landline phones; it connects users to any emergency service (medical, fire, police).
When you call 112, a specially trained operator will answer the call, and depending on the country, the operator will either deal with the call directly or transfer the call to the most appropriate emergency service. Operators in most countries can answer the calls in their national language, English, and/or French. If callers do not know where they are, the operator can identify physical location and will pass it to emergency authorities to provide immediate attention.
Operators for the 112 line, just like their 911 counterparts in the United States, do not provide traffic and weather reports or general information. They are there to dispatch emergency services. Additionally, as with 911 in the States, calling 112 as a joke, or calling and then hanging up is considered a prank call. In most countries, prank calls are considered a criminal offense and callers can be fined. Making such prank calls not only wastes the time and money of emergency operators, it can also be dangerous to tie up the operator while someone with a real emergency can't get the help they need.
Here in Italy, 112 does not replace, but operates alongside existing national emergency numbers. The following are emergency numbers available in Italy:
•Medical -- 118
•Fire -- 115
•Police - 113
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