112 — The European Emergency Number

The single European Emergency Number 112 is an integrated communications service. When a citizen is in need or danger and requires immediate help in Greece or the EU, they can contact 112 free of charge. Using new technologies, providing help is easier, as all the services that need to be involved are notified at the same time and the citizen's location can be identified.

112 also has the ability to send mass alerts to citizens when a natural disaster or dangerous situation that could threaten their life, health or safety is expected or under way. In such cases, citizens receive warning messages with directions and protection instructions through various communication channels.

A citizen calls 112 when in an emergency and in need of immediate help from:

• the Hellenic Police
• the Fire Service
• the National Emergency Aid Centre – EKAB
• the Coast Guard – Hellenic Coast Guard
• the National Line for Children SOS 1056
• the European Hotline for Missing Children 116000
• the European line for handling serious emergency incidents involving violence against children and adolescents 116111

Do not call 112 unnecessarily! You may be blocking immediate help for someone who urgently needs it at that moment.

You can contact 112:

• from a landline
• from a mobile phone, even without a SIM card or from a locked device (from the start-up screen)
• from public telephone booths, even without a phone card
• by text message (SMS) or multimedia message (MMS)
• by email to contact@112.gov.gr
• using the “gov.gr” app for smartphones, available free of charge on the app stores

Calling 112 is free from a landline or a mobile phone.

A call to 112 can be made over any mobile network. Even if you are out of your network's range, the call to 112 is supported by other mobile networks covering the area (national and international roaming).

In Greece, 112 operates around the clock, seven days a week, every day of the year.

Calls are answered immediately by specially trained operators. The 112 call centre is also staffed by representatives of the relevant emergency services (Hellenic Police, Fire Service, Coast Guard, EKAB).

When you call 112, state the type of emergency and the location of the incident. Operators will ask questions to determine the type of help required.

When you send a message to 112, it is important to write: what has happened? where has it happened? when did it happen? are there injured people?

It is important not to hang up without speaking. Say that it was a mistake; otherwise help will be mobilised unnecessarily, which others may urgently need at that moment.

eCall is a system mandatorily installed since 31/03/2018 in all vehicles in the EU. In the event of a serious road accident it automatically and free of charge calls the emergency number 112. When eCall is triggered, it connects to the 112 centre through a voice connection and a data link, transmitting data (exact location, direction of travel, time of the accident, vehicle identification number).

eCall is triggered automatically only in the event of a serious road accident. It can, however, also be triggered manually by pressing the SOS button located in the vehicle cabin.

Calling 112 from a mobile phone or sending SMS messages to 112 allows precise identification of your geographical location through Advanced Mobile Location (AML) technology.

Devices running Android (version 4.1 or newer) or iOS (version 11.3 or newer) support automatic, free activation of the location service a few seconds after the call to 112. On older devices the location is approximate, based on the mobile network antenna.

112 works in all EU member states, either alongside the national numbers or as the single emergency call number. It also works in some non-EU countries, such as Switzerland and South Africa.