Only you know where I am, there's a blizzard there, I'm leaving. With those words, a firefighter and rescuer from Plužine called 112 a few years ago and set off on his own, on a tractor with an open cabin, to pull a man who had previously suffered a stroke out of the winding village.
They say the snow was so heavy that even the Army helicopter couldn't handle it, and the local Protection and Rescue Service didn't have a vehicle to send to help.
"Only you know where I am", in short, perhaps best describes the role of the single European emergency number 112, which was introduced in the European Union in 1991 as a single point for receiving all emergency calls, and implemented and established in Montenegro in 2008. Today, this number is also used by some countries that are not in Europe.
In Montenegro, it operates within the 112 Directorate, the Directorate for Protection and Rescue of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP).
"They are literally the center of everything," that is, in short, the impression with which reporters from "Vijesti" left "Limenka," the Ministry of Interior building in Podgorica, after talking with employees at the Operational and Communication Center (OKC) 112.
In 2024, OKC coordinated 50 actions, in which 83 people were rescued. Among them, there were 66 foreign tourists and 17 citizens of Montenegro.
"We received 210 thousand calls and had 17.236 active cases, of which 8.529 were for police jurisdiction, 6.686 for emergency services, 1.870 for protection and rescue services and 151 from the jurisdiction of the Protection and Rescue Directorate," the head of OKC 112 said in an interview with "Vijesti". Đorđije Vujović.
In the summer, it "rings" most often, with the highest number of calls for the police and emergency services.
"Everything a person can imagine comes to us at OKC 112," employees answer when asked about the nature of the call.
However, they say, calls that require police and ambulance response, such as traffic accidents, are the most common.
They also receive reports of wild animal sightings, and they cite one as "when a puma appeared somewhere between Nikšić and Boka Bay or not...".
The most active time of year for OKC 112 employees is summer, "when tourists come and when it's fire season."
"March and April around 20.000 calls, June, July and August every month around 45.000 to 50.000," he illustrates the situation. Zlatko Micanovic from the Department of Telecommunications and Information Systems 112.
Tourists, he says, only know about 112, not about other national emergency numbers available in Montenegro.
Tourists call for every little thing, one of the employees adds.
"They call for everything, they have a problem at the reception, with the receptionist, so they call to solve their problem... A tourist from Croatia recently called, he was returning via Čevo, he got lost, he was crying...", they say, adding that they have also had calls when someone's herd is lost, or because the sheep have fallen off a cliff...
They also mention situations when they receive a call about being lost on the mountain, when the competent services are engaged, but the rescuers do not find the callers because, despite being told not to, they have changed their location.
One such example is the mountaineers from abroad, who arrived late at night from the direction of Albania at the top of Zla Kolata, in Prokletije.
They called for help, but the rescuers did not find them at the top, because they had meanwhile descended and headed towards Gusinje.
"One hour of helicopter flight costs over 1.500 euros. Up to 2.000, depending on the campaign," OKC 112 illustrates how much it costs the citizens of Montenegro.
They answer in less than five seconds, locate calls
The number 112 in Montenegro was established in 2008. For employees, 2015 is additionally symbolic, since CoordCom, a platform for receiving calls to the number 112 and activating emergency services, has been in use. In short, through the number 112, callers can receive assistance from all emergency services on the territory of Montenegro - emergency services, protection and rescue services, police, assistance from the Army, the Maritime Safety and Port Management Administration, the Mountain Rescue Service, divers, hunters, kayakers... Search and rescue operations can also be initiated through the number 112.
The average response time to emergency calls in OKC 112 is under five seconds, which is the European standard, says Vujović.
Since 2021, when the Advanced Mobile Location (AML) service was introduced, it has been possible to determine the location from which the call was made in less than 30 seconds. The AML system in Montenegro supports Android and iOS (iPhone) mobile devices.
The same year as AML, eCall was introduced. This system is installed in vehicles manufactured in 2018 and newer and is automatically activated in the event of a serious traffic accident: it establishes a call to 112 and sends key information, such as the location of the accident, direction of travel, vehicle type, number of passengers, etc.
Systems such as eCall, which also provide the fastest route to the emergency services, in this case the number 112, are part of various products, and in the OKC of the Montenegrin Ministry of Internal Affairs they have the ability to communicate with them. The interlocutors of "Vijesti" also describe a specific case of a traffic accident in which the call was activated by an iPhone device.
"These devices have the option to call themselves when the phone detects a strong impact. We got the location, saw that it was a highway, then we called the phone, made contact...", they explain.
Motorcycle drivers, they add, also have special applications that call 112, have a connection to the helmet, via Bluetooth, through which, in case of emergency, communication with the operator at OKC 112 is automatically opened.
"There were cases where the motorcyclist was seriously injured, but we were able to communicate," they state.
Too early for some options
Although the system they are working on at OKC 112 in Montenegro supports a lot, some options are disabled. This is the case with call tracking when there is no SIM card in the mobile device.
"We have turned off that option, in agreement with the Agency for Electronic Communications and Postal Services (EKIP), because citizens' awareness is not at the level that it can function in Montenegro," said Vujović, adding that, according to the data they have, for a long time, no call where help was really needed in such a scenario has been directed to OKC 112.
"Everything was abuse, testing, selling phones, child's play... So that item, which is also a European obligation and opportunity, was put on hold for us." to act"until the awareness of citizens is at a higher level," he said.
Fake calls and insults are punishable by law, but...
Vujović also points out that misuse of the 112 number is prohibited, but that no one has been sanctioned for it so far.
"If someone calls more often and gives false information, or keeps officers waiting, insults, and this is repeated, we have the option to block that number for a while," he explains.
According to him, the fact that the possibility of someone being punished for misuse of the 112 number has not been used so far means that it is necessary to define it with EKIP.
From this year, psychological support for employees
The head of OKC 112 says that it is common practice in the EU for dispatchers to work in similar centers for up to five years. One of their colleagues has been there for 17 years.
The job is stressful, they say, "especially when you hold someone's life in your hands."
"Sometimes people call, they fall off a cliff 100 meters, they have an open fracture, they depend on you... The job is difficult and stressful, it happens that a connection is opened with a person who is dying, dying, crying for help, these are situations when you have to stay calm, react in the right way, send help as urgently as possible. When we don't have work, it's basically a quiet day."
According to Vujović, this year, for the first time, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has also provided professional assistance from the Ministry of Internal Affairs Medical Center, so employees at OKC 112 will also have psychological support.
"Whoever needs to go, to provide that kind of help," he explains.
This year, they expect a competition to be announced and at least part of the missing staff to be filled, because, in that sense, as Vujović said, the capacities of OKC 112 are only 54 percent filled.
He adds that highly educated staff work in similar centers in the EU, and that five or six master's degrees are now employed in Montenegro.
Dispatchers at OKC 112 also receive calls in several foreign languages: English, Italian, French, Russian and Albanian.
The need to introduce the number 112 as an emergency service for receiving all emergency calls on the territory of Montenegro is defined within Chapter 10 - Information Society and Media.
"By introducing the number 112, Montenegro has fulfilled an obligation on its European path that is significant from a security perspective for all its citizens, especially for tourists who come because they have a sense of safety and security thanks to the 112 service," they tell "Vijesti".
OKC is organized in three centers: 112, Bijelo Polje, Podgorica and Bar.
In order to raise awareness of its importance, February 11th is also marked as the Day of the European Single Emergency Number 112.
A warning system and a new mobile application are also planned
OKC 112 is also planning to introduce a citizen alert system using advanced technologies, Cell Broadcast and SMS Based Location.
"For example, if there was a fire like the one in Luštica, we cannot inform citizens where they should evacuate. With these technologies, we can reach every citizen, every phone, within 10 seconds," explains Mićanović.
Cell Broadcast allows sending a long message, with a description of the situation, information about the evacuation location, contacts to contact, and instructions on how to behave.
According to Mićanović, the system allows messages to be sent to a specific area. This means that everyone who is already in that area will receive the message, but the message will also reach everyone who arrives in that area within the specified interval, in the next hour or two...
SMS Based Location also allows you to mark a specific area and send messages, but in that case the messages are in the form of classic SMS and are limited in the number of characters.
"But the user can respond to that message. Most EU countries are introducing both technologies, because both have advantages and disadvantages," says Mićanović.
The procurement of equipment and installation of the Cell Broadcast system, he adds, would cost at least 1,2 million euros.
"These are expensive solutions, equipment needs to be purchased and installed both by us and by mobile operators," he said.
Although they are expensive, he adds, these are systems that are necessary, because they significantly improve the safety and security of citizens, and the system can also be used by the police, fire department and other emergency services.
Mićanović says he would like both technologies to be implemented in Montenegro.
"If not, Cell Broadcast is the priority, because it has proven to be slightly better."
They announce that a new version of the 112 mobile application will be available before the summer.
All in one or every man for himself
In Montenegro, in addition to 112, the single European emergency number, citizens also have national numbers available: 122 for the police, 123 for the protection service, 124 is the emergency number, and 129 for assistance at sea.
In 2013, the then Ministry of Interior launched an initiative to unify all emergency services into the number 112.
OKC 112 believes that Montenegro is small and that it is enough to have one number.
"The problem is in large countries, there is no effect if everything is centralized, we are small here and all emergency services can be 'packed' into our three OKCs, so that it is unified and does all the work. That would relieve the telephone lines that currently exist in emergency services," says Mićanović.
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