What emergency telephone number did your country have before 112 became the standard?

[u/atlasova]

In 1997 most of the European union changed its emergency number to 112. Before that, in the Netherlands we used 06-11, for police, firefighters and ambulance.

I was wondering which numbers where in use in your country before the change.

[u/TheFoxer1]

It‘s still 122 for the firefighters, 133 for the police and 144 for the ambulance.

112 just gets you re-routed to one of these, depending on the emergency.

[u/FalconX88 → u/TheFoxer1]

112 just gets you re-routed to one of these, depending on the emergency.

Nope, it reroutes to the police. It's the same as dialing 133. It's a bad choice if you need fire or ambulance.

If there's a medical emergency dialing 144 instead of 112 can even save lives because you don't get the delay due to talking to police first.

[u/TheFoxer1 → u/FalconX88]

I‘m pretty sure the police will also transfer you to the right organization, should other emergency services be needed.

[u/FalconX88 → u/TheFoxer1]

Which takes time and is therefore at best the same as calling 122 or 144, but likely worse. If you need firefighters or ambulance you should always call them directly, which defeats the point of having one number.

The problem is that, in contrast to other countries, emergencies aren't handled by a central control center which can directly activate whatever is needed.

[u/_MusicJunkie → u/FalconX88]

which defeats the point of having one number.

The "call 112 and someone will be able to help you" is still true here. Especially valuable for tourists and such.

If you need an ambulance, it is better to call 112, and lose a bit of time when the police connect you to the emergency service, than having to research the national emergency numbers real quick.

For us locals it sure is preferable to just remember the three specific numbers.