The Public-Safety Answering Points (PSAP)

The Public-Safety Answering Points (PSAP) are the call centres which receive all emergency phone calls, both those made using the Single Number 112 and those made using other traditional emergency numbers - 112 (Carabinieri), 113 (Police), 115 (Fire Service), 118 (Emergency Medical Services).

Within a few seconds of taking a call, the operators of the Public-Safety Answering Points identify the location of the caller, open the electronic file in which all of the relative information will be recorded, launch a multilingual interpreting teleconference if necessary and then, depending on the assistance required, include the operations centres of the various services - Emergency Medical Services, Public Safety, Fire Service, Port Authority - in the conversation.

Thanks to this system, emergency vehicles can be dispatched more quickly. In fact, according to the technical and operational guidelines of the Single European Emergency Number 112, the maximum call response time is 10 seconds, the standard interview time is 40 seconds and the time taken for the call to be directed to the operations centres of the relevant services is also 40 seconds.

In Emilia-Romagna, the Single European Emergency Number has two Public-Safety Answering Points (PSAP), in Bologna and Parma, each equipped with 32 workstations, a major emergency room and suitable spaces equipped with technologies, offices and IT services to monitor the evolution of emergency situations. The entire system is structured according to disaster recovery logic and safeguards to ensure technological, digital and electronic continuity and guarantee the overall functionality of the service with the aim of preventing interruptions.

In Emilia-Romagna, the management of the Single European Emergency Number 112 and the governance of the Public-Safety Answering Points has been delegated to the Regional Health Policies Office which, as part of the regional control room overseen by the Prefecture of Bologna, is tasked with coordinating its actions with those of all of the other entities involved in the management of emergencies: The Police, the Carabinieri, the Regional Civil Protection Agency, the Fire Service, Emergency Medical Services and the Port Authority/Coastguard.