Since 2009, the 11th of February is established as the European 112 day, a day dedicated to raising awareness of the common European emergency number 112.
In case of emergency, you can dial 112 anywhere in the European Union, free of charge, to reach the fire brigade, the police or the emergency medical services.
The Home Affairs Minister Abela, said that last year the Police received a total of 453,306 emergency calls, with most calls received (46,431) in July and the least in February (33,000).
He said that Police received around 3,500 hoax calls on the national emergency line in 2015, which was half the amount of calls that were received in the previous year, when the figure reached 7,000. Around 19,000 mis-dialled calls were received in 2015.
In a statement today MEP Marlene Mizzi said that she believes that the common European emergency number 112 and the improvement of emergency services in the EU can concretely advance the safety of European citizens and visitors.
Marlene Mizzi said, "the idea of a common emergency number is a great initiative. The knowledge that there is a common emergency number wherever they travel in Europe not only gives the citizens a safer state of mind, but also helps the emergency services in Europe to work more effectively."
Labour MEP Marlene Mizzi endorsed the European 112 initiative back in 2013 and since then she has been advocating and supporting different initiatives to raise awareness and improve the common European emergency number throughout Europe which Europeans can call in cases of emergency.
"112 can save lives by allowing every person in a distressed situation to reach any of the main emergency services through a single call number throughout the whole of the EU. This instrument is fundamental to the protection and well-being of our citizens and their property. It is technologically easy and financially cheap to implement," said Marlene Mizzi, MEP.
"Regretfully, despite the good work that has been done throughout this initiative, 65% of European citizens do not know which number they could call to contact emergency services anywhere in the EU. In addition, annually, there still are millions of calls for help which are not being actioned in a timely manner."
MEP Marlene Mizzi said, "having a better funded and more efficient 112 number is of great benefit to the citizens of the European union. But what is key, in improving the service, is that European citizens are aware of this potentially life-saving number that can change their life. Therefore, I invite you to join me and many others in raising awareness to the people close to us."