The number of emergency calls answered by the Comunitat Valenciana emergency telephone number in English, French and German has doubled in the last ten years with English continuing to be the most requested language by service users.
According to the Valencian Security and Emergency Response Agency. Emergencies (AVSRE), the number of calls received in these languages has increased from 9,926 in 2014 to 21,560 in 2023.
The telephone number 112 is established as a single number to assist members of the public in the event of any type of emergency (health, fire, rescue or public safety) in the European Union and, therefore, any tourist or visitor to the Community.
According to the data, from 2014 to date there has been an exponential growth in the number of calls answered in these three languages which have gone from 9,926 to 21,560 answered during 2023, the majority of them, 17,064, in the English language, followed by French 2,735 and German 1,712.
The summer months, July and August, continue to be when the most calls are received, with an average of more than 2,000 per month. It should be noted that the first year of the COVID pandemic, in 2020, a decrease of around 3,000 fewer calls was noted compared to the previous year. It went from 16,598 received in 2019 to 13,321 made in 2020, but in 2022, the number of calls received rose again to 20,306.
Users of this service can dial the emergency number 112 even with the mobile phone keypad locked, without having to enter the PIN number, and even without a SIM card in the phone; Once turned on, simply type 112 and proceed to call as long as there is coverage.
The call answering room at 1·1·2 Comunitat Valenciana has the capacity to be sized based on the emergency response and public service needs that have to be provided. Thus, in 2022, in response to the humanitarian crisis of Ukrainian refugees arriving in the Valencian Community, a care service was activated at 112 for affected people in their own language and an advisory and guidance device was also enabled to address the basic needs of newcomers.
During its four months of operation, the Generalitat Emergency Telephone number 1·1·2 Ukraine received a total of 1,751 calls from refugees requesting information about benefits, humanitarian assistance or shelter possibilities.
