Alert system for all, irrespective of SIM card origin, planned by end of year
Half of calls to 112 in 2025 'not appropriate, false or abandoned'
An alert system that warns mobile users of local emergencies, irrespective of their SIM card's country of origin, should be launched by the end of the year.
Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri told a 112 awareness-raising event on Wednesday that his ministry had been working on such a system - known as Reverse 112 - for some years now.
The system would allow every mobile phone connected to local antennas in Malta to receive emergency notifications and instructions when necessary.
Camilleri said a contract was signed in September, and work kicked off to ensure "interoperability between different systems, to have the system operational by the end of the year".
Together with Education Minister Clifton Grima, Camilleri was addressing children at the Fgura primary school on the occasion of European Emergency Number 112 Day.
The initiative focused on promoting the responsible and appropriate use of the 112 emergency number, which in 2025 received a total of 384,468 calls.
Of these, 184,693 calls were either not appropriate for the emergency line or were false or abandoned calls.
A total of 96,416 genuine and valid calls were escalated to the second level of response:
- 79.2% were directed to the Emergency Department at Mater Dei Hospital
- 12.5% to the Civil Protection Department
- 8.1% to the Malta Police Force
- 0.2% to the Armed Forces of Malta
The initiative was organised in collaboration with the Malta Police Force, the Armed Forces of Malta, the Civil Protection Department, and the Emergency Department.