Wenn etwas passiert
You come upon a crash and someone is lying injured in the road. Which number do you call?
Erklärung: 112 reaches the ambulance and fire service anywhere in the European Union, free, from any phone. If you are not sure which service you need, 112 is the one to call and they will pass you on.
Two cars have collided, nobody is hurt, and the drivers cannot agree what happened. Which number do you call?
Erklärung: 110 is the police. With no injuries, this is a police matter — and 112 would still take the call and route it, so a wrong guess is not a disaster.
The emergency operator answers. What do you say first?
Erklärung: The location is what lets them start moving before you have finished speaking. Street and number, or the junction, or the nearest thing with a name.
You have told the operator where you are and what has happened. What do you do next?
Erklärung: They will ask questions you have not thought of, and often talk you through what to do until help arrives. The call ends when the operator ends it.
You are late and pass a crash where someone clearly needs help. What do you do?
Erklärung: Walking past an emergency you could have helped in is a criminal offence in Germany. What is asked is what you can actually do — make the scene safe, call, stay with the person.
Your handlebar scrapes a parked car and leaves a mark. Nobody is around. What do you do?
Erklärung: Leaving the scene is itself a crime, and a note alone does not satisfy it. Wait, and if the owner does not appear, report it — that is what makes you a person who had an accident rather than one who fled.
A car knocks you off your bicycle. You feel shaken but not hurt, and the driver offers to settle it there. What do you do?
Erklärung: Injuries that matter later often do not hurt in the first ten minutes, and by then the driver and the witnesses are gone. Details first, decisions afterwards.
An injured person lying in the road should be moved to the pavement straight away, whatever the situation.
Erklärung: Only if they are in immediate danger where they lie. Otherwise moving someone can worsen a spinal injury — secure the scene around them, call, and keep them warm and talking.
Calling 112 costs nothing and works from any phone in the European Union.
Erklärung: Free, EU-wide, and it works with no credit and often with no SIM card. There is no reason to hesitate over the cost.
Which number do you call for an ambulance or the fire service?
Antwort:
112
Erklärung: Europe-wide, free, from any phone.
Which number do you call for the police in Germany?
Antwort:
110
Erklärung: And if you call the wrong one of the two, they will route you.
What is the first thing you tell the emergency operator?
Antwort:
where it happened
Erklärung: Everything else can be asked; the address is what starts the vehicle moving.
Who ends the emergency call?
Antwort:
the operator
Erklärung: Stay on the line; they will ask more and often talk you through what to do.
What happens in Germany if you pass by an emergency you could have helped in?
Hattest du es gewusst?
Antwort:
it is a criminal offence
Erklärung: Unterlassene Hilfeleistung. Helping badly is not punished; not helping at all is.
What must you never do after any collision, however small?
Antwort:
leave the scene
Erklärung: Leaving is a separate crime, and a note under a wiper does not replace waiting.
What does the German word "Notruf" mean?
Antwort:
emergency call
Erklärung: Not is emergency or distress; Ruf is a call.
What does the German word "Unfall" mean?
Antwort:
accident
Erklärung: An Unfallort is the scene of it — the place you may not leave.