Every February 11th marks European 112 Day, celebrating the European Single Emergency Number, available in all states from landlines, and from smartphones even when the phone is locked, has no SIM, credit has run out or there is no signal, as well as through the 'Where ARE U' App; the goal is to offer a free emergency service for every citizen and visitor in Europe.
In Italy, the 112 number is active in the regions of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lazio (telephone districts 06 and 0774), Liguria, Lombardy, Marche, Piedmont, Sicily, Tuscany, Puglia, Umbria, Tuscany, Val d'Aosta and in the autonomous provinces of Bolzano and Trento, available to approximately 44 million users
Calls are answered by a CUR, Central Unica di Risposta (Single Response Center), which receives all requests for intervention. Specifically trained operators manage the initial response and distribute calls to the State Police, Carabinieri, Fire Brigade, or Medical Aid. Last year, the system registered 11 million calls. 11
The system, organized in this way, acts as a filter, allowing only "appropriate" calls to be forwarded to the various operations centers. In fact, the Ministry of Interior informs on its website that only about 50% of the calls received by the CUR – last year, approximately 11 million – are genuinely emergency calls.
Operators have immediate access to the caller's phone number and can pinpoint their location on a geographical map. The calltakers – as the operators are called – are multilingual, but can also use a simultaneous translation service in the 39 most common European languages.
When to call? For serious road accidents, fires, thefts, and any emergency requiring the intervention of ambulances, Fire Brigade, Police, or Carabinieri. Avoid calling for traffic or weather information! The risk is overloading emergency centers and delaying assistance for those who genuinely need it.
