Police and Rescue Service Phone Numbers to Merge

The Ministry of Internal Affairs is proposing amendments to the laws on the "Police," "Rescue Service," and "Compensation for Public Officials and State Employees." This information was reported by the newspaper "Fact."

According to the project's justification, Armenia's emergency call system operates around the clock, utilizing national emergency numbers 101, 102, and 103, as well as 112 and 911. However, it has significant weaknesses, and without substantial reorganization, it is impossible to improve the efficiency of the response and processing system for calls and the collaboration of crisis response agencies.

One of the main drawbacks of the current system is that the large number of emergency call phone numbers can make it challenging for those in need of assistance to quickly determine which emergency number to call for their specific situation. Calling the wrong number could lead to delays in receiving help. There may also be instances where a person, out of necessity, calls multiple emergency numbers regarding the same incident, creating an additional burden that should be eliminated.

Another issue is the ineffective communication between the control centers operating under different agencies, which act independently in situations where several services need to respond simultaneously to a crisis (for example, in the case of a traffic accident).

The proposals aim to merge the operational management center (OMC) within the Ministry of Internal Affairs with the National Center for Crisis Management of the Rescue Service, resulting in a unified call center. Under this merger, the number "112" will be activated for receiving alerts, consolidating the phone numbers of both bodies: the police and the rescue service ("1-02," "1-01," "911").

More details can be found in the original source.