Calling 112 in the mountains
112 is the single emergency telephone number for the whole of Europe. And in the mountains, the only number to call for help, as it is the only one capable of coordinating emergencies.
In Spain, 1-1-2 is managed by the autonomous communities and operates free of charge 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, from any type of landline or mobile phone, even without a PIN.
Precautions
In the mountains, you never know when it might happen an accident or end up disorientated. However, a correct route preparationa appropriate equipmentcarry a map, GPSThe knowledge of the environment, the safety techniques and having practised them, are essential to minimise the risks.
However, even if we take every precaution, the situation may still go wrong and we may be forced to ask for a ransom. How do we call? With your mobile phone, right? When we go out in the mountains, we must pay attention to our mobile phone, always carry it charged, use it only when necessary and take advantage of energy-saving systems, as explained in this article on how to use a mobile phone in mountain emergencies.
The problem of telephone coverage
Telephone coverage is required to call 112.This can be a problem in the mountains. It should be borne in mind that most of the territories without coverage are in high mountainous areas and in the most remote rural areas. For example, in Catalonia it is estimated that in 25% of the territory there is no coverage, and of course, it is mainly concentrated in these areas.
For these cases where there is no coverage, a cheap option is to have a satellite phone. If you do not have one, as is probably the case, but you are near a mountain refuge, you can use it. In some free refuges there are also radio systems installed that work with a push-button that can be used to communicate with 112.
Depending on the type of telephone coverage.
In the case of not having coverage from our company but from another one, we will only be able to make voice calls to 112. We will not be able to send SMS messages or data.
In the case of our company's coverage, depending on the type of network and the quality of the data, we may be able to:
- Making voice calls to 112. If you get through to 112, the emergency services will want to know the identity of the victims, what happened, where it happened, the nature of the injuries and other information that may be useful such as possible terrain obstacles for the helicopter, the weather, etc. Prepare this information and follow the instructions you are given.
- If a voice call is not possible but SMS can be sent, we can notify another person to be in charge of contacting 112. This trusted person will be the one to contact 112 and will have to provide the information mentioned above, the nature of the injuries, if any, and any information that may be useful. If we have the possibility of knowing our position, it will be a good idea to send our coordinates in the SMS to this person. Once we have managed to contact our trusted person via SMS, it is advisable that this person confirms that they have received it and that they have contacted 112. Even if we get confirmation, we should still try to contact 112 by our own means.
- If there is data coverage we will be able to share our position directly with 112 through one of the applications available for this purpose, which we talked about in a previous post on mobile mountain applications.
Some tips for calling 112
We do not want to finish without reminding you once again that in the mountains (as well as outside) 112 is the number to call in case of emergency or accident, misplacementor when we are overwhelmed by a situation. It is always better for the rescue services to come looking for a person in good condition than for someone who is injured or stranded.
However, 112 is not a helitaxi service, a place to call at the drop of a hat because we feel tired or cannot find our way. Our obligation as mountaineers is to train ourselves, to carry the right equipment, to choose an activity appropriate to our possibilities and to study the route we are going to take and the possible alternatives.
Nevertheless, in the mountains there are always risks that are beyond our control and we must be prepared to face them and to know what to do in the event of an accident.
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