Politicians have called for a standardisation of emergency dispatch systems following questions over the handling of an accident involving two cars near Rhode-Saint-Genèse last month. Following the crash, a phone call was immediately made for assistance. The call was picked up by the 112 emergency call centre in Leuven around 1 AM But rather than calling the closest ambulance assistance in Chenaie in Uccle, the dispatcher instead contacted the ambulance service based in Braine-l’Alleud, le Soir reports.
Upon arrival, one of the passengers - a young girl aged 15 - was found dead at the scene. One of the drivers, a girl aged 18, was in a serious condition and taken to hospital but died of her wounds.
The extra time it took for the ambulances to arrive from Braine-l’Alleud rather than Uccle has prompted politicians to ask for standardizations in the emergency dispatch systems. "The emergency 112 centres will gradually leave their purely provincial operation and become part of a supra-provincial logistical system,” Pieter De Crem, Minister of Security said in a communiqué in response to the accident and how it was dealt with.
The state secretary of Brussels region, Cécile Jodogne, in charge in charge of firefighting and emergency medical assistance said that improvements must be made in the country's emergency operating systems.
The Brussels Times
