Emergency Response Support System

Government of India (GoI) initiated the Emergency Response Support System (ERSS), through a Pan-India single emergency number system 112, to handle emergency requests. The emergency system was introduced to receive and provide support at the earliest to reduce the impact of the unpredicted emergency.

Overview

ERSS was launched by the GoI to provide a single emergency number that would reduce the confusion during emergencies and increase the response rate by the responders. The single number system will also create and streamline the infrastructure that would handle the unified user interface computing system for emergency response and planning. The ERSS will be monitored by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) and Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC). The MHA will soon eliminate all the other emergency numbers such as Police (100), Fire (101), Health (108) and Women helpline (1090) and integrate into ERSS number 112. The number can be accessed through regular or smartphone. The MHA also released a mobile app form, which can be downloaded through Google and Apple store. The ERSS is applicable for all the states and can receive the emergency calls through voice mail, SMS, E-mail, SOS signal and through ERSS web portal. The ERSS will respond through Public Saftey Answering Point (PSAP) designated by each state. The function of the ERSS App has been implemented with a budget of Rs.321.69 crore through the Nirbhaya Fund. The following are the services that are integrated with the ERSS '112' helpline:

Medical Emergency
Fire Alert
Police
Threat to Life
Women Safety
Child Protection
Location Lost

Objectives of ERSS

Create a unified single number system to avoid confusion during an emergency
Reduce the time consumed to make critical decisions during an emergency
Provide a faster response system to reduce intensification of casualties
Reduce damage to stocks/products, equipment and infrastructure
Provide support to protect the environment and community
Create a real-time digital map to track the device and service vehicles to respond effectively

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Features of ERSS

ERSS is active 24x7 across the country
The caller's location can be identified with an automatic response system incase the device ran out of power
Reach ERSS through SMS, voice mail, SOS signal, website and panic buttons
Swift and effective response from PSAP
Increases the decision-making time and decreases the emergency response time by a coordinated and centralised control centre
Tracking of emergency vehicles by the state-of-the-art software, developed by C-DAC
To guarantee protection for women, SHOUT feature has been implemented in 112 mobile App

Circumstances for using ERSS

If a vehicle, building or forest is on fire
When there is extensive smoke comes out of a building
If people have met with a severe accident
In case of situations where people have stuck in a building, elevator or vehicle
During an act of theft
Stuck during a natural calamity
Being physically assaulted or witnessing an assault
Witnessing a suicide attempt
Someone needing help with a medical emergency
Victim/witness to harassment towards women
Possible suspension of kidnapping

Availing 112

Regular Phones

To avail 112 services with regular phones, the concerned caller have to long-press 5 or 9 on the keypad

Smartphones

All users can dial 112 to avail the ERSS emergency services

Website

The emergency services can be availed through the ERSS web portal. Process of availing ERSS through the web portal Step 1: Log in to https://ners.in/

serious Step 2: Click on 'State' Step 3: Select the applicable state

Step 4: Click on 'Request Help'

serious

List of Countries with Active 112 Service

Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Israel, Norway, Russia, Turkey, Switzerland and Sweden.