Emergency Response Support System
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 24×7 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/
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Step 2: Click on ‘State’
Step 3: Select the applicable state
Step 4: Click on ‘Request Help’
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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.
Cost of Availing ERSS
The cost of availing ERSS is free. However, the fee may be applicable if in case the services are misused.