News and bulletins
Bullying Can Be a Crime – Recognizing Emergencies Is Crucial
It’s important to talk with children and young people about the importance of making an emergency call. For example, physical violence is always a crime, even if it’s referred to as school bullying. An ongoing violent situation is always a reason to call the emergency number 112.
Speed of action and location information are crucial in water rescues
In recent weeks, there has been a significantly higher number of drownings and serious near-miss incidents at public beaches than usual. Recognizing the situation and calling for help quickly is critical when someone ends up in the water. A drowning person is rarely able to call for help, which highlights the importance of others in noticing the emergency.
Knowing your location can save your life
When it comes to emergency calls, the most important thing in terms of getting help is to know where you are so that help can reach you as quickly as possible. Technology and especially the 112 Suomi app are good tools for determining your location.
Emergency response centres preparing for the school closing weekend
The coming weekend will see young people deservedly celebrate the end of the school year and the start of the summer holiday. For the emergency line, the school closing weekend is usually busier than a normal summer weekend.
Finnish Emergency Response Centre operations attracting international interest
Each year, the unique Finnish model for producing ERC services attracts international guests to visit Finland in order to monitor daily operations at emergency response centres. Visitors want to emulate the model, which is cost efficient and makes it possible to dispatch help quickly.
Director General Taito Vainio: our reliability will be maintained in all circumstances
Taito Vainio started his second five-year term as the Director General of the Emergency Response Centre Agency in early March. In the coming years, his work will be characterised by the challenges arising from the changes in the operating environment.
Task prioritisation makes it possible to provide help in acute emergencies
The Emergency Response Centre Agency’s guidelines for handling prehospital emergency care tasks were revised at the end of November 2023. The change is reflected in the number of tasks assigned to prehospital emergency care and in their priority distribution.
2024 in review
The Emergency Response Centre Agency’s financial statements for 2024 are complete. The service level of emergency response centre (ERC) operations remained good, even though we were not able to meet all our performance targets. During 2024, absences due to illness decreased and the work load was evened out. Customer confidence and satisfaction in ERC operations remained high.
Record number of emergency calls interpreted
The growth in the foreign-language population is reflected in the number of interpreted emergency calls. The demand for Ukrainian interpretation, for example, has increased significantly over the past few years.
Statistics on the emergency number 112
In 2024, the Emergency Response Centre Agency received an average of 7,600 emergency calls every day. Of these calls, 1,600 should not have been made to the emergency response centre. Roughly one half of the calls were passed on to authorities while the other half were handled by the emergency response centre operator through guidance and advice. The average time in which an emergency call was picked up was seven seconds.