TROUBLE ABROAD. WHO YOU GONNA CALL?

12.00.00am GMT Mon 8th Feb 2010

Liberal Democrat MEP Fiona Hall is using '112 day' - 11th February or 11/2 - to call for more publicity for the EU-wide emergency number 112.

Fiona said:

"112 is an immensely useful service for anyone in difficulties in another EU country. It is vitally important to know whom to call in an emergency, wherever you are. 112 is an easy number to remember and free of charge. Crucially, the response service is multilingual, so if you are abroad and don't speak the language you will still be able to contact the police, fire brigade or ambulance without any problems."

In 2009, more than 1.8 million passengers embarked on international flights to and from Newcastle Airport, which connects to 19 European countries. However, according to the European Commission, in 2009 only 24% of holidaymakers in an emergency knew they could dial 112 from landline or mobile anywhere within the EU, even though the service was launched in 1991.

Fiona added:

"112 does not replace national emergency services numbers but it is a really useful number to remember when travelling to another EU country. The multilingual service guarantees that North East travellers can ask for help in English in emergency situations.

"I would like to see a publicity drive to advertise the existence of 112 - and where better to start than at airports. Such a campaign could save lives."