Telephone answering by the emergency services

An efficient call receiving system is essential to avoid wasted time. A variety of models exist but have not been studied. In some Member States, calls are answered by the ambulance services or the emergency medical services, in others by other emergency services - police and fire service – and then appropriate calls are transferred to the emergency medical system. A priori direct over indirect contact is to be preferred [7]. It is not known whether all countries have standards for call receipt, although several countries have developed call receipt performance indicators.