The emergency notification system integrates medical rescue, the fire service and the police. It is based on emergency communication centres (CPRs) which, since January 2014, have operated throughout Poland according to unified procedures.
The dispatchers currently employed at CPRs respond to calls from people who dial 112 - a unified emergency phone number valid across the European Union and available 24/7 from both landline and mobile phones. In the future the CPRs will also receive calls to 997 (the police), 998 (the fire service) and 999 (medical rescue).
A single set of procedures – faster response
The emergency notification system works on the basis of the so-called operator model. This means that operators are responsible for accepting notifications, verifying whether they are genuine, and referring them to an appropriate service. The decision to dispatch an ambulance, a police emergency response team or a fire truck is made by the duty officer or dispatcher for the specific unit.
Specialists claim that this system provides a significant time advantage in notifying the services and responding to emergency situations. The Ministry of Administration and Digitisation determined that introducing the CPR brought down the average waiting time for receiving a notification submitted by calling 112 from 28 to just 10 seconds.
Introducing a unified system is also aimed at reducing the number of false calls which, according to government data, make up as many as 80 percent of all calls to 112. For this reason, filtering emergency calls is one of the CPR’s major tasks.
The CPR will keep data regarding emergency calls, including recorded calls and personal data of callers and other people mentioned by them.
55 million calls a year
Government statistics record about 27.5 million received calls to 112 each year. When handling 997, 998 and 999 becomes CPR's responsibility, this will rise to about 55 million.
The target number of emergency number operators employed at the CPR is to reach 1365, which is to guarantee the availability of emergency numbers and a short waiting time which should remain below 10 seconds.
The system is organised and coordinated by the Minister of Administration and Digitisation, while the emergency communication centres are being established by Voivodeship Governors who are also adapting the system to local needs.
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