Dispatch centers
When you call the emergency number 112, your call is answered by a dispatch center. These centers operate 24/7 and form the starting point of every urgent intervention. They ensure the rapid and efficient deployment of police, fire, or medical services, depending on the nature of the emergency.
Within EMRIC, dispatch centers across the border region work closely together to ensure effective response – even across national borders. Through agreements, shared technologies, and training, dispatch operators are able to coordinate quickly and effectively – all in the interest of public safety.
With between 800 - 1,200 cross-border deployments per year, it should be clear that the dispatch centers in the Meuse-Rhine Euregion have very frequent contact with each other. To ensure that dispatches run as smoothly as possible, the heads of nine control rooms have been seeing each other every three months for more than 20 years in the working group Heads of Dispatch Centers. There, they discuss improvements and keep each other informed of the latest developments on dispatch centers and call-taking in their own country.
The nine dispatch centers involved are:
- Meldkamer Brandweer Limburg (NL)
- Meldkamer Ambulancezorg Limburg (NL)
- Meldkamer Hulpverleningszone Oost-Limburg (B)
- Noodcentrale 112 Hasselt (B)
- Centrale d’urgence Liège (B)
- Leitstelle Aachen (D)
- Leitstelle Kreis Heinsberg (D)
- Leitstelle Kreis Düren (D)
- Leitstelle Kreis Euskirchen (D)
For making requests for assistance in the EMRIC context and sharing information on incidents with cross-border effects, the dispatch centers have contact via telephone and use a web application developed for this purpose.
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