Today, 11 February, Europe celebrates the European 112 Day, which has been established in 2009 with the aim of raising awareness on the European emergency number: 112. This number is the one to reach for contacting the emergency services in all European Member States.

This celebration is an opportunity for MSs to inform citizens about the existence of this common number for all Europe. Every MS will organise activities to raise the “112 awareness”: in Italy, in the city of Milan, the Pirelli skyscraper will be lightened up with the inscription “112 day” for two nights. Do you want to know the activities of all the other Member States? Click here!

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112 in Italy, in Europe and in the world

In Italy, the 112 common number (numero unico) service is active in the Lombardy region, in the Rome province, and since 31 January 2017 in the Piedmont region (apart from the Turin province, which will activate the service in the next summer, together with the Aosta Valley region).

In case of emergency, wherever you are, dial the 112 number: in the areas where the “numero unico” service is active, a “first level Public Safety Answering Point” (PSAP) will answer, and it will redirect the phone call to the competent emergency service. It can be the fire department, the police or the medical emergency service. In the areas that have not already activate the service, dialing 112 will put you in contact with Carabinieri, one of the emergency services in Italy. They can redirect the call to the competent service. The other national emergency numbers (113, 115, 118) are still active in the whole Italian territory.

The great benefit of having a common emergency number in Europe is quite obviuos: when you are abroad, you won’t have to remember the local emergency number(s), you will need to dial just one number, 112.

The 112 number is also active in some non-EU areas: 112 is the emergency number is some countries, like Nigeria, Brazil, Russia and Kuwait, while some others, like Canada, USA (depending on device and service provider) and Malaysia, will redirect the 112-call to the national emergency number (in these cases, 911 and 999). Nonetheless, is recommended to be informed about local emergency numbers before travelling abroad.

IES Solutions, which performs research and development activities for citizens’ safety and security, participates to the 112 Day celebrations and wants to make Italians citizens aware of the common emergency number, 112.

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More info about 112? click here for a useful factsheet! (Thanks to EENA)

P.S.: ..do you know why the 112 Day is celebrated exactly today? ..Just think of today’s numbers!