Most of the time, when someone picks up the phone to call the 112 emergency number, they’re in distress and dire need of help. They could be in urgent need of the fire brigade, the ambulance services, or even the police.
However, most people do not know there is a right way to follow whenever you call the 112 emergency number. This is because the 112 call operator will require some cooperation and answers from you.
Here are some steps you can follow to ensure that your 112 emergency call in Belgium goes well;
- When you’re in distress, call the 112 emergency number for the police, ambulance services, and fire department services. However, in Belgium, you can also call the 101 emergency number strictly for urgent police assistance.
- Some choices are spelled out for you; ensure you pick out the one you need at that particular time. The message is often announced to you in form of numbers, and it’s your responsibility to carefully listen so that you don’t end up getting the wrong emergency services. You’ll be asked to press a certain number after all the options have been said to you.
- If it happens for some reason you do not make a choice after that message, it will be repeated to you. After you’ve made a choice and pressed the digit that suits your emergency, your call is transferred to the competent emergency center so that the emergency services you inquired for could be sent to you.
- During this time, when your phone call is being transferred to the respective emergency center, you should stay patient and calm. You should never hang up the 112 emergency calls unless the operator has asked you to. This is because whenever you hang up the call, and your emergency isn’t well registered yet, you will go back in line before you can access the 112 emergency operator again.
- Please provide all the details that the 112 operator asks of you so that they can serve you better. They might ask you for details such as your name, your address, the kind of emergency you’re reporting, and the shortest route to get to you. For your address, ensure that you’re thorough with your details, more so if the address isn’t easily visible from the street. You can also provide the 112 emergency call operator with an emergency telephone number to call if they can’t reach yours before they get to your address.
- Give a detailed explanation of the emergency your reporting. Tell the 112 emergency operator about what exactly happened, if someone is sick, unconscious, dead, an attempted burglary, an accident, an assault, a fire, a heart attack, or any other incident that might have occurred. You’re required to provide all these details so that the 112 emergency call operator can know the best emergency services to send your way.
- Indicate the number of people involved in the emergency. Whether it’s one sick person, many injured people, or a certain number of dead people.
- After the 112 emergency operator has asked you to hang up the call, ensure that you keep your telephone line free. This is in case they need more information about the emergency or how to reach your address.
- In the period when you’ve already reported the incident if an improvement occurs or the situation worsens, ensure that you contact the 112 operators again and inform them of the new developments.
- Prepare your home for the emergency services that have been dispatched. You might need to turn on your lights, lock up your pets and open all the entrance doors. It’s even more helpful if you have someone go out to the street so that they can direct the emergency services to your exact address to save time.
Conclusion
The 112 emergency call operators handle hundreds of phone calls daily from people in worse situations than you might be in.
For this reason, if the operator does not ask for more information from you, it’s advisable that you hang up your call when they ask you to do so. This will help free up the line so that other people can also be served.
Also, if you make a 112 call mistakenly, do not hang up, but rather let the operator know that it was a mistake and you’re fine wherever you’re. This ascertains them that there is no emergency elsewhere.