Second European 112 Conference and Exhibition, Brussels 1st and 2nd December 2004

Ms. Frederique RIES, Member of the European Parliament

The Second European 1-1-2 Conference and Exhibition was held in Brussels, Belgium on the 1st and 2nd of December 2004.

Issues pertaining to the 112 service chain. The 112 should ensure for all European Citizens the fundamental right to the same high quality service in case of emergency. This should be a political objective of the European Union the achievement of which should be judged on the basis of results obtained and not on the basis of available means and resources. To this respect it is very encouraging the fact that already the EU co-finances projects submitted on the initiative of several Member States in view of establishing integrated systems. However, the total response time of emergency services in case of intervention should become a European standard as soon as possible. Furthermore caller location and multilingual response should also become standard services offered to citizens throughout the EU.

Technological issues. Most of the technologies already exist to support location enhanced 112 services (E112), both in the network and the control room. To implement them only the political will is missing. There are a range of network based solutions to wireless location that can provide alternative solutions and complement each other. Activities towards the implementation of advanced technological solutions should be facilitated or coordinated at a European level, BUT the drive and desire must come from each of the Member States. Furthermore for 112 to be adopted throughout Europe greater direction from the EU is required. Of course technology should not be the driver but the consumers should get what they want. There is a requirement for European training and standards on call handling. Again it is clear that accurate location information is required but implementation of this will create additional pressures on emergency services.

Issues pertaining to emergency services. The 112 constitutes an essential element regarding the management of big crises like the Madrid bombing. However the cornerstone for a better coordination is the interoperability between the emergency services. Given the presence of 12 different nationalities amongst the victims, the following are very important elements to ensure proper and timely response: existence of a common number to call, establishment of a European system of health cards, and the possibility for the multilingual response to emergency calls.

The main elements of the EENA's work program for 2005. EENA underlines the leadership vacuum which exists in the field of emergency communications, mainly because emergency services have not been organized at European level in such a way as to express their common requirements vis–à–vis the industry. EENA is ready to face the challenge and fill in this gap by becoming a central (final and professional) user platform for emergency communications. EENA will thus undertake during 2005 actions towards the accomplishment of this objective. Furthermore EENA will continue and reinforce activities related with the information of citizens by continuing the operation of the existing communications tools as well as by promoting its action for multipliers (namely the e-mergency project). EENA will also continue playing its role as a discussion platform for citizens, emergency services and the industry via its website and online discussion groups, its 112 Newsletter and by organizing the Third European 112 Conference & Exhibition in 2005. The Association will further intervene with all available means to the national and European Authorities (European Commission, European Parliament, Ombudsman, etc) by requesting firm action to be undertaken.

On the basis of the above the following priorities will be considered in EENA's strategic planning for 2005: the education of political authorities and of the public, the establishment of a non-partisan scientific committee (which will undertake the drafting of at least two «Best Practices Guides») and the establishment of a strategic alliance / partnership with professional user organizations.

 See the EENA Strategic Plan for 2005 (91KB)

First European 112 Conference and Exhibition, Brussels 1st December 2003

Ms. Margot Walström, European Commissioner for  Environment and Civil Protection

Mr. Louis Michel, Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Belgium

The purpose of the First European 1-1-2 Conference and Exhibition was to bring together companies, emergency services and representatives of the citizens to discuss the present and the future of the 1-1-2 in Europe. The First European 1-1-2 Conference and Exhibition was held in Brussels, Belgium on the 1st of December 2003.

• A selection of photos, the final versions of the presentations and videos of plenary sessions from the First Conference are available on EENA's First Media CD (order through our Shopping corner).

The 112 is an essential component for the success of several initiatives and policies of the EU. They include the European Commission's road safety strategy (e-safety), occupational safety and health as well as the implementation of Information Society standards in the field of emergency services. The 112 is also a tool for regions welcoming tourists speaking different languages. Partnerships between public services and citizens associations can produce concrete results about public services effectiveness including 112.

For various reasons the EU does not have standards for response time or for handling emergencies. To achieve comparable quality of emergency services in the EU, common indicators should be developed. Although some work is now underway, much more needs to be done to detect common grounds for emergency services over Europe and reinforce them. For emergency medical services, the medical profession is ambivalent about the usefulness of a single emergency call number that is also handling calls for non-medical issues and/or general information. Some propose a filter for giving diagnostics at distance and avoiding useless ambulance movements and unnecessary hospitalizations. In general however, it is agreed that the public has the right to reliable and available response to emergency calls, while the successful use of the 112 depends on the proper training and information of the public.

The use of health cards is also related with the handling of medical emergencies. Although the new European health insurance card (which will be implemented in the EU by mid 2004) was not designed as a medical/emergency card, applications on the basis of this card can help ensure better management of patients, can reduce useless medical exams and can help save more lives. Emergency Health Cards available already on the market as well as other commercial applications show that this is feasible and covers an existing need. However, developments are hampered by lack of political will mostly at national level.

Concerning technological issues, we certainly are in the 112 era, mainly because safety and security are becoming more and more important for our societies. But the implementation of call-localisation needs multiple technologies while privacy issues are not to be neglected. Everybody recognizes the fact that to reach the goals, more progress and cooperation are necessary and that emergency services in EU are the first concerned. In fact technological solutions for ensuring better services do exist, but they have to be implemented by emergency services personnel - awareness raising is very important in this respect.

Ms. Frederique RIES, Member of the European Parliament, will propose that the Scientific and Technological Options Assessment Unit of the European Parliament undertakes an assessment of the 112 situation covering all possible issues with a view of proposing the necessary legislative initiatives necessary to improve the situation.

The EENA's work program for 2004 will contain three types of actions:

• Actions for the Information of Citizens, namely continuing with the web site and the Newsletter but also launching an action for multipliers, namely the e-mergency project (a web site with reusable information & communication elements available to organizations dealing with citizens and travelers);
  
• Actions to ensure the role of EENA as a discussion platform, through the web site (launching online discussion groups), the Newsletter (publishing of invited articles) and by organizing the 2nd European 112 Conference & Exhibition (1st December 2004);
• Actions aiming at motivating the Authorities to act, through interventions at all levels especially the European Parliament (where several MEPs are willing to help), the European Commission (mainly Information Society & Civil Protection departments), the European Ombudsman, national governments and others as necessary.