Emergency number “911” will come into effect next Monday

The emergency number “911” will come into effect as from next Monday October 3rd in Baja California, Coahuila, Colima, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Durango, Guanajuato, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Quintana Roo, Sonora, Tlaxcala, Puebla and Zacatecas as part of Phase 1 efforts to provide a quick response to all emergency calls.

Álvaro Vizcaíno, Executive Secretary of the National Public Safety System, said that the emergency system requires of ample joint efforts: “With the coming into effect of the “911” emergency number, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto fulfills one of his commitments and addresses the citizen demand to rely on an agile, reliable and professional service that provides aid through a centralized and free phone number”, he added.

According to Vizcaíno, 90% of the calls received in Emergency Attention Centers are false, that is why he urged the civil society to make a good and ethical use of the “911” emegency number.

Isabel Miranda de Wallace, from the Halt to Kidnappings organization, proposed fines to all false calls received by the emergency number and stressed the importance of the service oriented profile of the emergency phone operators.