60% of Calls to 112 Emergency Phone Number in 2014 Were Unjustified

Around 60% of the calls to the 112 emergency phone number in 2014 were unjustified, according to Stoyan Gramatikov, head of the National System 112 Directorate at the Interior Ministry.

In a Wednesday interview for the Bulgarian National Television, Gramatikov claimed that the share of malicious calls was relatively small, at 0.12%.

He said that in most of the cases of misuse the people had dialed 112 inappropriately as the situations did not involve emergencies.

Gramatikov, as cited by Darik radio, commented that the 112 emergency phone number was often used as a telephone enquiry service.

He also said that many unjustified calls to the 112 emergency phone line had been pocket-dialed.

Gramatikov informed that an average of 14 590 calls per 24 hours had been received via the 112 emergency phone number in 2014, adding that half of the calls had been for medical emergencies, 45% for police emergencies, and 4.3% for fire emergencies.

He noted that in 2008, when the 112 emergency phone number had been launched on a national scale, the average number of calls per 24 hours had been around 20 000.

Gramatikov explained the reduced number of calls with the increased public awareness of the purpose of the service.

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