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.

The Emergency Response Centre Agency has introduced an international number for situations where a person has information about an emergency situation in Finland or another situation requiring immediate action by the authorities while abroad.

– When traveling abroad, people occasionally have an urgent need to connect to the Finnish emergency centre system. Typically, this can be a vague request for help from an elderly relative, which the person abroad becomes aware of. We have wanted to meet this need by launching the Emergency Response Centre Agency's international number, says Lasse Matilainen, Head of the Emergency Response Command Centre.  

According to Matilainen, the number is monitored by the Emergency Response Centre Agency. The Command Centre transfers the call to the correct emergency line, and the need for assistance is assessed by the emergency centre, as it is done with other emergency calls. 

– Until now, contacts from abroad have been handled through several intermediaries, which has made it difficult and delayed receiving help. With our new service number, Finnish people can now connect to their country's emergency centre system without contacting the local country's emergency centre. We are pleased that we can now meet this service need. 

The international number of the Emergency Response Centre Agency: +358 9 2297 0908. The number can be found in the 112 Suomi application's Emergency Numbers tab.