Emergency number 112: what you need to know about it

I think that many have heard about a single rescue service number 112. However, few people know how it really works and what the state of the system is in Russia at the present time. In this article, I will tell you in detail about everything that is directly related to the operation of an emergency phone: where is it better to call, what will be answered on that “end of the line”, who serves 112, and why knowing the principles of the system can save lives in dangerous situations.

A bit of theory

In the countries of the European Union and North America, there has long been a single number for the rescue service. Hardly anyone has heard of the 911 number used in the United States. Every American knows this is the number to call when in trouble. In Russia, before the appearance of mobile phones, there was no question of any single number. Each emergency service was called one of the numbers - 01, 02 or 03.

It is worth stopping at this point and identifying an important point. If you still have a landline (home) phone, then, most likely, you will not get through to 112 from it. The fact is that in Russia until now, due to bureaucratic and financial problems, only three pilot zones function (Kursk Oblast, Republic of Tatarstan, Astrakhan Oblast) and technical design of the 112 system has been carried out in 22 regions.

As for mobile phones, things are a little better here. The GSM standard, which is used by most mobile phones in the world, has the functionality of an emergency number. The vast majority of phone manufacturers follow the rules and support a quick call to the rescue service. Typically, you can dial a number without even unlocking the keypad.

Get to the point

Perhaps you know that you can call 112 if the phone does not have a SIM card, or does not catch the operator's network, or you have a negative balance. How does it work? After dialing the number, the phone tries to send a signal to your operator and in case of an unsuccessful attempt, forwards it to one of the available networks. For example, if your MTS network does not catch on the highway, the phone will ring through Beeline, Megafon and so on.

Keep in mind that even if you make a call to the emergency number without a SIM card, the operator will see a unique phone number (IMEI) and, if necessary, will most likely be able to identify you. It would be too childish to hope that the call is absolutely anonymous.

Now let's talk more about cellular operators. Each of them, in accordance with Article 52 of the Federal Law "On Communications", must have a service responsible for the operation of the emergency number. However, one should not unconditionally hope that the requirement is fulfilled by everyone and in full. Small regional operators may maintain a small emergency telephone service staff.

So, what happens when you dial 112. In fact, everything is very primitive: the rescue service operator of your mobile provider will ask why you are calling, perhaps find out the address and switch to the required number - 01, 02 or 03. There is also the option that not a living person will speak to you, but a robot that will ask you to enter a number on the phone keypad to switch to one of the services.

It must be remembered that such a call will always be free for you.

Alternative

Despite all the advantages of a single emergency number, there are some problems to keep in mind.

Firstly, as I already said, the mobile operator may not provide the required amount of service, and the number will always be busy.

Secondly, it is easy to notice that dialing the required service goes through a third party (mobile operator), which has a bad effect on the speed of delivering alarming information.

Thirdly, the employee of the cellular operator who serves the number 112 may not know the city well, and his duties usually include finding out the exact location of the incident.

Based on this, taking into account all the circumstances, it may be more correct to call directly to a certain emergency service (Ministry of Emergency Situations, police or ambulance). However, this is not so simple.

According to the GSM protocol standards, calls are not made to numbers shorter than three characters, but a USSD request is made. Thus, to call one of the services, you need to use substitute numbers, and they are different for different operators.

If you are a subscriber of MTS, Tele-2 or Megafon, use the numbers 010, 020, 030, 040, or 001, 002, 003, 004 if you use mobile communications from Beeline.

I hope you never get to call emergency services, but in any case, you should know how best to do it.