Belgium's Interior Minister Bernard Quintin has proposed reducing the country's emergency phone numbers to just two: 112 for urgent assistance and one other number for non-urgent calls.
Currently, individuals in need of immediate help from police, fire services, or medical assistance dial 112. However, non-urgent situations are less straightforward, with different numbers for different needs.
For example, police-related non-emergencies can be reported via 101, storm damage via 1722, and non-urgent medical assistance on 1733. Additionally, some local police zones have separate "blue lines" for non-urgent questions and reports.
Minister Quintin has tasked his administration with exploring how to consolidate these into a simpler system, keeping 112 for urgent calls and a single number for all non-urgent inquiries.
Speaking to the Interior Affairs Committee on Wednesday, he explained that this change aims to reduce confusion for citizens and ease the workload on emergency call centres, which often receive non-urgent calls.
