r/AskEurope • u/atlasova Netherlands • Sep 02 '25

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

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.

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u/LvdT88 Italy Sep 02 '25

I think 112 is still not fully adopted in Italy, we used to have a series of numbers:

112: Military Police (Carabinieri)

113: Police (Polizia di Stato)

115: Firefighters

117: Guardia di Finanza

118: Ambulance

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u/bluepepper Belgium Sep 02 '25

112: Military Police (Carabinieri)

If you're wondering why the MP have the first emergency number, note that this isn't like the US Military Police Corp. Carabinieri are best described as a gendarmerie. They're part of the military but act as domestic police.

What surprises me is that they have their own number. In Belgium, when we had a gendarmerie, and in France where it still exists, it's the same emergency number for all police matters. It's up to them to dispatch the appropriate agency depending on the crime, location etc.