Medical helpline 116117 or emergency number 112 – which should I call?
Recently, there have been reports of long lines in health services and the role of the general medical helpline 116117. Here's what you should know about when to call the emergency number or the medical helpline.
Victim Support Finland now available in the 112 Suomi app services
The range of services offered by the 112 Suomi mobile app increased on 23 February – conveniently during the International Crime Victims’ Week. The number 116006 of Victim Support Finland was added to the app’s emergency numbers.
Drivers: keep these things in mind this Christmas
As the holiday season approaches, we would like to remind all motorists about the basic safety of holiday traffic to ensure that there are no accidents this Christmas. Fintraffic´s Road Traffic Management, the National Police Board, the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom, the Ministry of the Interior Department for Rescue Services, the Emergency Response Centre Agency and the Finnish Road Safety Council will look after the safety of holiday traffic again this year and wish everyone a very safe journey.
Helping callers in their own language during an emergency
The emergency number 112 receives more than 2.7 million emergency calls every year. The person making the emergency call and the emergency response centre operator do not always share a common language. In these cases, an interpretation service is used, and its usage has increased every year.
You are abroad and you receive information about an emergency situation in Finland – This is what you should do
The Emergency Response Centre Agency's international emergency number can be called in situations where the notifier is abroad but the emergency is in Finland. The emergency number 112 in Finland cannot be reached from abroad.
Sign language emergency call pilot project starts in June 2021

This June, Kela and the Emergency Response Centre Agency are launching a pilot project to allow people to make emergency calls in Finnish sign language using the 112 Suomi application. The goal is to promote equal treatment in government services.
The pilot project is targeted at deaf persons and persons with impaired hearing who use Finnish sign language as their first language. The pilot project aims to find out how well the 112 Suomi application and Kela’s remote service are suited to emergencies and the activities of public authorities and how the services could be developed. The pilot project starts on 15 June 2021 and lasts for one year.
The pilot project is a historic experiment. The goal is to promote the equal treatment of citizens and allow people to use their first language in services that have not supported their language before.
“Previously, it has not been possible to make emergency calls in sign language, so this is a completely new service,” says Mikko Toivanen, Head of the Centre of Expertise at Kela.
The cooperation between Kela and the Emergency Response Centre Agency is also a new endeavour. Taking part in the cooperation is Kela’s Interpreter Service for the Disabled.
“It’s great that this cooperation has given the possibility of interpreting emergency calls made in sign language,” says Marko Nieminen, Head of operational Department at the Emergency Response Centre Agency.
Although this is an experiment, the service is intended for real emergencies. Anyone who uses Finnish sign language to communicate can make an emergency call in sign language. The caller does not have to be a customer of Kela’s Interpreter Service for the Disabled.
How to make an emergency call in sign language
To make an emergency call in sign language, use the 112 Suomi application. You should download the application to your device in advance before there is an actual emergency.
If there is an emergency, the caller can use the 112 Suomi application to make a video call to a sign language interpreter from Kela’s remote interpreting service. The interpreter makes a voice call to an emergency response centre operator, who will then process the emergency call with the help of the interpreter. The service is available from Monday to Friday from 08:00 to 16:00.
Link to the remote emergency call interpreting service can also be found at 112.fi and kela.fi. You can still report emergencies by sending a text message once you have signed up to the emergency SMS service.
The updated version of the 112 Suomi application will be available in app stores on 15 June.