Calling 112 In Emergencies - Don't Do It

Social Media Advice Not Correct On 112

The National Emergency Number Association is warning the public not to dial 112, in the wake of social media posts that people should dial the number, rather than 911, in certain circumstances, such as if they are pulled over by police and want to confirm the officers' authenticity. 

"1-1-2 is the European emergency number," NENA said. "While dialing 1-1-2 in the United States may work on certain devices and on certain wireless networks, the only way to ensure that your call for emergency assistance gets through is to dial 9-1-1. 

"When a caller tries to use 1-1-2 in the United States, the call may not go through. Even if it does, 1-1-2 provides no special emergency call handling - in fact, it adds a delay due to it having to be converted to '9-1-1' and then routed to the appropriate 9-1-1 call center."