The Chief of the Emergency Response Centre Administration, Tuomo Katajisto, thinks it’s unfortunate that so many groundless calls still find their way to the emergency centres. The statistics haven’t change from the year before.

"Most of the unnecessary calls are made by accident. For example, a mobile phone without a locked keypad could accidentally call the emergency hotline," say Katajisto. "Some calls are just not emergencies, with callers simply asking for information. Usually, these people have no sinister intentions, they've just called the wrong place. There are fewer prankster callers; however, there’s still a lot of them."

Worst Pranksters Call Hundreds of Times a Day

The Emergency Response Centre Administration is trying to reduce the amount of unnecessary calls through awareness campaigns. Plans have also been laid for a non-emergency hotline, where people wanting information can call without tying up the lines designed to handle real emergencies; but this has not yet been implemented.

Prankster calls are obviously police business. Some malicious callers can be responsible for hundreds of calls a day, and in a short time period that number can rise up to the thousands. The maximum legal punishment for this kind of behaviour is a year in prison.

112 Familiar to Nearly All

Authorities are reiterating that in a real emergency situation, one should always call 112. If someone is threatening your life, health or property, you should call the hotline. Also, if you want to report criminal action to the police, you’re allowed to use the emergency number.