One New Year’s night showed how an ordinary video call can determine the course of a life. The story of a dispatcher who, via mobile phone, guided parents through an unexpected home birth shows why the emergency line is shifting from "calling" to full-fledged "communication".
When video changes the rules of the game
It’s 1:30 a.m. on New Year’s night; most people are asleep, but Laila, in an advanced stage of pregnancy, feels strong contractions. She and her husband Mateo call the emergency line, where the call is answered by 34-year-old Elisa, a paramedic with eleven years of practice and three years of experience in the operations center. The dispatcher assesses the situation as urgent, rules out a risky car ride, and sends an ambulance, while also sending a link to a video call via SMS so she can guide them immediately. After an intense twelve minutes from the start of the call, their third child is born before the crew arrives – thanks to the calm and precise guidance that video made possible.
From "calling" to "communication": what Europe wants
The European Electronic Communications Code requires that people have access to emergency services via free emergency communication – that is, not only voice, but also real-time video and text. Slovak law today speaks of receiving an "emergency call", but a shift to the broader term "communication" is expected so that multimedia channels can be officially introduced. This is also crucial for people with hearing impairments who need video interpreting, real-time text, or visual aids instead of a traditional call. European organizations are setting milestones – for example, the availability of real-time text as early as 2027.
Next-generation 112: standards, interoperability, and practice
At the technical level, the so-called NG112 framework, a standard published by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) in 2019, defines the architecture, protocols, more precise location, multimodal channels (voice, video, text), and interoperability between centers and across countries, with a view to Europe-wide availability by 2030. The integrated rescue system is the bridge between the public and professionals who, in addition to radio communication, increasingly need multimedia – especially as young people prefer messaging and video. Technology companies have been working on such integration for years, for example Frequentis with its LifeX system, which brings various channels together into a single working environment for fast and accurate interventions.
