RA MIA presents  draft law on  introduction of  single emergency  number - 112

ArmInfo.  The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Armenia has presented a draft law on the  introduction of a single emergency number - 112. This number is used  in Russia and the EU. The Armenian Parliament will discuss amendments  to the Law "On Police" and a package of related laws during an  extraordinary session on December 16.

As Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Armen Mkrtchyan stated, having   separate phone numbers for different emergency situations causes   confusion for citizens, especially in stressful situations.   Management and coordination issues have been regularly recorded,   including disagreements over the roles of services, fragmented   information, and insufficient operational communication. These issues   in some cases have led  to delayed responses, slower   decision-making, and a weakening of situational control.

 The project proposes creating a single command center (the   Operational Management Office within the Ministry of Internal   Affairs) for all emergency situations, with a single number. This   office will replace the MIA Operational Management Center and the   National Crisis Management Center at the Rescue Service.

The  existing  numbers 102, 911, and 101 will continue to operate   during the gradual implementation process, and will automatically   redirect calls  to 112. Eventually, these numbers will be phased out.   Mkrtchyan noted that the new system will reduce the average response   time to 10 seconds, reduce the average response time to 10 minutes,   more accurately locate alarms, and implement modern automatic  notification mechanisms. He added that in the future, emergency   medical service calls will also be integrated into the 112 system.   However, this process requires technical and institutional   improvements in the second phase.