Rescue operation: emergency call without good reason - fire brigade: problem is massive

Fire brigades in Germany complain that more and more people are dialing the emergency number 112 without a good reason.

Rescue operation: emergency call without good reason - fire brigade: problem is massive

Fire brigades in Germany complain that more and more people are dialing the emergency number 112 without a good reason. "The problem is massive and is getting bigger, especially in urban areas," said the President of the German Fire Brigade Association, Karl-Heinz Banse, the German Press Agency in Berlin.

The rescue control centers only have a limited number of telephone lines and employees: "The dispatcher who speaks can only speak once." For callers in an emergency, this could mean that the emergency call was blocked.

Many use emergency services instead of on-call numbers

As one reason, the head of the association referred to the medical on-call number 116 117, which had to be expanded. "The experience with the medical emergency service is like this: If you try to call there, you get put on hold. That's just too long for many people," said Banse. On the other hand, anyone who dials 112 knows they have a contact person within 30 seconds at most. "A lot of people use it because they just don't know what to do anymore."

"In individual cases, it's always bad for everyone when something hurts. But you have to weigh up what you're doing: Are you blocking an emergency call line because you have a sore throat?" At the same time, Banse complained that the population was losing its "ability to help itself". "People don't know how to help themselves anymore."

According to Banse, there are no nationwide statistics on how often the emergency call is made without a good reason. "I think we'll have to evaluate that." At the same time, he spoke out in favor of raising children's awareness of the topic at school.

A spokeswoman for the city of Cologne pointed out that a dispatcher from the control center was trained accordingly. "So he asks very specific questions, for example if someone gets involved in contradictions or makes implausible statements. When in doubt, he always decides to send help."

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