Credit: CGDIS
11 February marks European 112 Day, a day dedicated to raising awareness of the European emergency number 112.
On this date, every year since 2009, European Union (EU) Member States organise various activities to promote the existence and use of the Europe-wide emergency number 112.
In Luxembourg, the Grand Ducal Fire and Rescue Corps' (CGDIS) 112 emergency call centre (CSU 112) is the only point of entry for emergency calls. It operates 24 hours a day and is structured around a team that rotates every twelve hours, each shift being made up of one manager, five operators and one nurse/health officer whose main mission is to ensure that patients are dispatched to hospitals based on availability and to provide medical advice and support.
In 2022, the CSU 112 handled 249,126 calls to the 112 emergency number, i.e. one call every two minutes. A total of 71,676 CGDIS interventions resulted from these calls.
The CGDIS noted that 56% of 112 calls in 2022 were not related to an emergency; instead they concerned people looking for information, abusive calls, etc. Since such calls cause network congestion, the CGDIS recently shared real examples on social media highlighting the problem of useless or even abusive 112 calls.
For certain problems and requests (not emergencies), the relevant information is available online, for example on the 112.lu website.
The CGDIS has also recalled that it is currently hiring for various roles within the CSU 112 team. Applications remain open until 5 March 2023. Further information is available on the aforementioned website.
