Absences due to illness decreased and job satisfaction rose in 2023
The Emergency Response Centre Agency’s financial statements for 2023 are complete. Last year, the number of employee absences due to illness fell, new ERC operators were recruited, and employee satisfaction increased.
eCall offers safety in situations where the driver cannot call for help
There has recently been discussion in the news about automatic emergency call systems in vehicles. The Europe-wide eCall connects directly to the nearest emergency response centre and sends information directly to the centre's information system.
The missing children hotline improves safety across the EU
In the event that an underage child becomes missing, it is important to inform the responsible authorities quickly. For this purpose, assistance is available from a common European hotline. In Finland, the hotline can be used for sharing tips about missing children. In emergencies, the number to call is 112.
Real-time text for emergency services will be introduced in 2025
Emergency calls using real-time text (RTT) will be made available by the end of 2025. The new option for emergency calls will especially help people with hearing or speech impairments. The Emergency Response Centre Administration has already taken the first steps in the development of RTT.
Emergency response centre operator awarded for outstanding performance
The European Emergency Number Association EENA awarded a Finnish emergency response centre operator for outstanding work in assisting a person that had fallen through the ice in the wilderness. Finland’s emergency response centres are built around the professionalism of ERC operators and cooperation between authorities, and the case demonstrates the effectiveness of this approach.
Smart devices and automatic emergency calls
New technology has been created to assist in situations where a person needs help but cannot summon it themselves. Dialogue between the authorities involved in emergency response centre operations as well as futher technical development is required to take advantage of the technology.
Automatic emergency calls made by smart devices have been the topic of public debate in recent times. For example, the calls could be originated by a function connected to a phone or cycling helmet, which reacts to a sudden jolt or rapid change in the measured speed. A sensor in a smart device can detect a sudden stop and interpret it as a fall or collision, for example. In such a case, the user may be notified that the device will initiate an emergency call unless the user cancels it within a set time.
New technology has been created to assist in situations where a person needs help but cannot summon it themselves. Naturally, one of the challenges is that the core task of an emergency response centre operator is to assess the risk and dispatch the responders specified by the authority in charge. If information cannot be obtained from the scene, it is impossible to determine what kind of help is needed. Responding to ambiguous situations requires dialogue between the authorities involved in emergency response centre operations.
− Some devices start by reading out an automatic voice message, which may provide information on why the emergency call was made. However, some automatic calls are connected to the emergency response centre like ordinary calls. If it is impossible to talk to the person concerned, the operators cannot assess the situation, says Marko Nieminen, Head of Operations at the Emergency Response Centre Agency.
Further development required to take advantage of the technology
The new technology has been deployed rapidly, and hardware manufacturers may not have considered how automatic notifications function within the Finnish safety authorities’ operating models and Finnish legislation. Furthermore, the new functionalities offered by smart devices also require users to learn new things.
− According to the feedback from emergency response centre operators, most automatic emergency calls from smart devices are false alarms. For example, users were unable to stop an unnecessary emergency call from being initiated. However, Nieminen says, there are cases where a person has needed help and received it thanks to an automatic emergency call.
When assessing the methods for making emergency calls, it is important to consider the implementation of the directive on accessibility requirements as an amendment to the Act on Emergency Response Centre Operations. Consequently, section 10 a of the act entering into force on 28 June 2025 states, “The Emergency Response Centre Agency shall respond to emergency notifications made to the emergency number (112) using real-time voice calls or text messages. The Emergency Response Centre Agency may also respond to an emergency notification made by other means that enable interaction between the Emergency Response Centre Agency and the person making the emergency notification.”
In other words, the method for making an emergency notification must enable interaction so that the operator can assess the risk and assign the task to the appropriate authority. In the case of smart devices, it is problematic if there is no voice connection and the risks cannot be assessed. The relevant government ministry is considering the matter further.
The Emergency Response Centre Agency’s official services and emergency notification channels are conventional emergency calls, emergency text messages, eCalls and the Emergency Call in Sign Language service, which is available in the 112Suomi app. eCall is an emergency message service used in the event of a traffic accident to transmit information about the type and location of the vehicle to the emergency response centre when a voice connection is established between the vehicle and the emergency response centre. In the event of an accident, eCall sends a data package to the ERC containing information about, for example, the direction of travel of the vehicle in the accident, the type of vehicle and also whether the call was placed manually or automatically.