Emergency Response Centre – How can I help?
Call 112 in genuine and urgent emergencies. Always call when there is a threat or danger to human life or health, property or the environment. Also call when you suspect that this is the case, or you find the situation threatening. The Emergency Response Centre officer will send to you help provided by the police, rescue services, pre-hospital emergency medical care or social services.
Describe what happened as accurately as possible. This will make sure that you will get the right type of help.
The Emergency Response Centre operates 24/7 and answers your call as quickly as possible. Please remember that the Emergency Response Centres may be busy at times, for example when a storm causes extensive damage. Your call will always be answered as soon as possible, so please wait a moment and focus on answering the questions that the operator will ask you as carefully as possible.
This is how you make an emergency call
1. Make the emergency call yourself, if you can.
You are the person who can give the most accurate description of the accident or your condition.The caller plays the most important role in getting the right help to the scene, and if the call is made by another person, this may delay the arrival of help.
2. Explain what happened.
The Emergency Response Centre operator will ask you questions about the situation. This way they can send the right type of help to the scene. Describe what you see and try to share all the information you have as accurately as possible.
3. Give the exact address and municipality. You should always know your location.
There may be similar addresses in different municipalities within the Emergency Response Centre’s operating area. This is why it is important to give also the municipality, not only the street address of the scene. Write down your exact address and keep it in a visible place in your home and holiday house to make sure that you can give it correctly in an emergency. This also means that your visitors can make an emergency call.
4. Answer the questions the operator asks you.
Remember that these questions will not delay the arrival of help. In urgent cases, the operator sends help to the scene already during the call. The operator needs to know more about what has happened and relays this information to the authorities who go to the scene. It is also given to their partner organisations, which are informed already while the authorities are on their way, if necessary.
5. Follow the instructions the operator gives to you.
The Emergency Response Centre operator has been trained to provide instructions for different situations. Follow their instructions. Giving the right type of first aid often has a major impact on the end result of the situation.
6. Only hang up, when the operator tells you to do so.
If you hang up too soon, this may slow down the arrival of the emergency services. When you have been told you can end the call, hang up. Then keep your phone free. The operator or the emergency services arriving on the scene may call you to find out more about what happened.
7. Always call 112 again if the situation changes.
8. Guide the emergency services to the scene.
Remember that the phone is your best safety device. Keep it handy...
Please remember
- If the emergency number is busy for a while, do not hang up!
- Emergency calls are always answered in the order in which they have been made and as quickly as possible.
- When you call the emergency number, you never need an area code.
- Emergency calls are free.
Read more:
112 Suomi application
Emergency Response Centre Administration
In case of fire
