112 is the single European emergency phone number, available everywhere in the EU, free of charge.

Accidents can happen anywhere, anytime. It can happen to you, when you are visiting an EU country or at home. In case you are involved in, or witness, an accident, see a fire or spot a burglary, would you know which emergency number to call?

Reachable from fixed and mobile phones - Just remember 112!

You can call 112:

• To contact any emergency service
• In any EU country
• From fixed phones, including public payphones, or mobile phones
• Free of charge

112 will not replace existing national emergency numbers. In most countries, it operates alongside the existing national numbers. However, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, Malta and Romania have opted for 112 as the main national emergency number.

112 is also used in some countries outside the EU (such as Switzerland and South Africa) and is available worldwide on GSM mobile networks.

When can you call 112?

Call 112 in any emergency requiring an ambulance, the fire brigade or the police. For example, if you witness a serious road accident, notice a building on fire or spot a house being broken into.

Do not call 112 to obtain traffic reports, weather reports, general information and queries.

Unnecessary calls may overload the system putting at risk the lives of those who really need emergency assistance.

Hoax calls may also affect the response to real emergencies. Because of the high number of hoax calls, a number of countries decided to block 112 calls from mobile phones without a SIM card.

What happens when you call 112?

A specially trained operator will answer your call. Depending on the national organization of emergency services, the operator will either deal with the request directly or transfer you to the most appropriate emergency service (such as ambulance, fire brigade or police).

Operators are increasingly able to answer 112 calls in more than one language, which is especially important for people calling 112 while abroad. Give your name, address, telephone number. It is necessary to identify callers, in particular in order not to report the same incident twice.

Do not hang up if you call 112 by mistake! Tell the operator that everything is fine. Otherwise, emergency assistance may have to be sent out to check there is no problem.