Three numbers for one service: how emergency lines of the Ministry of Emergency Situations work in Belarus

The dispatchers of the Moscow Emergencies Ministry receive calls to all popular emergency numbers and are ready to promptly assist not only residents of Belarus, but also foreigners. About it on the air of the program “Salvation Service.112” on “Radio-Minsk” said the official representative of the Minsk city Department of EMERCOM Olga Melchenko.

You can recruit rescuers in Belarus by several numbers. The most famous and concise is 112. The usual 101 and 911 number are still in use. For any of them, citizens will hear the duty service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

The official recalled the history of emergency numbers. The first was 01, so that in a smokey room with zero visibility, a person could orient himself to the touch and dial the extreme slots of a disk phone - 0 and 1.

- The single number 112 appeared in Belarus on the eve of the World Ice Hockey Championships so that visiting foreigners could easily call for help. The dispatchers of the department speak foreign languages and use special methodologies with standard incident scenarios, Melchenko said.

In 2022, the line 101 received a call from the emergency service of Romania. Colleagues from Europe found contacts of Belarusian rescuers on the website to help a Russian-speaking family caught in an accident with two trucks near the border with Hungary.

“The situation needed to be managed in real time: a conference was organized with the participation of four subscribers: dispatchers from Romania, Hungary, Belarus and the most affected family,” the official representative of the Minsk City Department of Emergencies said. Our specialist translated the information into English, coordinated the police call to the scene of the accident, and also provided psychological support.

The investigation and coordination of border services lasted about an hour. All this time, the Belarusian dispatcher remained in touch and advised citizens.