You should call 112 in emergency situations where there is a danger to life, property, or the environment. If it is not an emergency, you can instead call:
114 14 - the national police number for non-emergency incidents.
1177 – for medical advice.
113 13 – for information during accidents and crises.
By calling 112, you can reach the following emergency services:
Ambulance Rescue service.
Police Mountain rescue.
Air rescue.
Poison information center.
On-call priest.
Marine environmental rescue service.
Sea rescue.
Social emergency service.
Customs – tips on smuggling.
When you call 112, your call is answered by an SOS operator who asks questions to provide you with the necessary assistance. The operator speaks Swedish or English and has the option to use an interpreter. We have interpreters for 200 languages.
Examples of questions the SOS operator asks:
What has happened?
Where has it happened?
What phone number are you calling from?
The SOS operator asks you questions to ensure that you receive the right help at the right place as quickly as possible. During the call, necessary assistance is organized at the same time. Our questions do not delay the help.
In an SOS centre, 112 operators, nurses, ambulance dispatchers and emergency services operators work together to deal with the aspects of a case that fall within their area of responsibility.
While an SOS operator is interviewing the person seeking help, other SOS operators or emergency services may be listening in on the conversation and alerting the necessary help. This means that even if the 112 operator continues to ask questions, in urgent cases the help is often already alerted even if it is not clear to the person calling.
The police and some regions have their own command centres to which the 112 operator connects calls.
Calling by mistake or prank calling
Yes. If you accidentally call 112, you should hang up. If you stay on the line, it can delay help for others. If an SOS operator has answered, briefly explain that you called 112 by mistake.
If you accidentally call 112, you should hang up. If you stay on the line, it burdens the emergency number and delays life-saving help for others.
112 from other locations
112 is the EU's common emergency number. When you call 112 from an EU country, you will be assisted by that country's emergency call center. You will not reach 112 in Sweden if you are in another country.
Some countries outside the EU have their own emergency numbers. Always find out which emergency number applies in the country you are in.
If you find yourself, for example, in the mountains, in the middle of the forest, or out at sea, you may need a satellite phone to contact SOS Alarm in an emergency.
The emergency number via satellite phone is: +46 63 107 112.
Retrieve your coordinates
Sometimes it can be difficult for the SOS operator to get an exact position of the person calling 112. This can be due to the person in distress being in an area without coverage or the location not being marked on the map. You can find your coordinates in various ways, including at the top of the screen when you open the 112 app.
You can also retrieve your coordinates on, for example, www.hitta.se. Here's how:
Go to the map and enter the name of the place you want the coordinates for.
On the map, zoom in to ensure the correct place is marked.
Then click on the menu symbol at the bottom right corner of the map and select "Coordinates".
A window called "Coordinate Display" will open.
Choose to display RT90, WGS84, Sweref99TM, or decimals and write down the coordinates shown in the box.
Technical questions about calling 112
Yes, SOS Alarm can in most cases automatically determine your location when calling from a mobile phone in Sweden. However, the operator must ask questions to ensure the correct location of the incident. It is a good idea to use SOS Alarm’s app which, through another channel, continuously transmits your location also when you are on the move.
Yes, you should be able to reach 112 even if you do not have coverage from your mobile operator.
Normally, your call will take place via emergency roaming, which means that the phone calls through another operator. If emergency roaming does not work, try removing the SIM card and calling 112 again.
However, if no mobile operator has coverage, you cannot call 112.
Yes, you can call 112 without a SIM-card.
No, you should never dial an area code before dialling 112.
Alternative ways to contact 112
Yes, you can text 112 via SMS112. The service is only available for those who are speech or hearing impaired – and you need to register in advance.
If you have a disability that prevents you from speaking, you can contact 112 through SMS112 or the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority's (PTS) relay services texttelefoni.se, bildtelefoni.net, and teletal.se. You need to register in advance.
SOS Alarm has access to interpreters in approximately 200 languages. The number of interpreters available for each language varies depending on the time of day you call.
On weekdays from 08:00 to 17:00, SOS Alarm has access to interpreters in the following languages:
Arabic (08:00–22:00).
Somali.
Russian.
Bosnian.
Croatian.
Serbian.
At other times and on weekends, it may take longer to get hold of an interpreter.
Accessibility during emergency operations
You may receive a call from the number 112. This is usually because we are contacting neighbors of a person who needs help but cannot open the door for emergency personnel on their own.
If you receive a call from 112, please answer. If you have a missed call from 112, you do not need to call back.
Ambulance and rescue services do not have their own access codes. However, in an emergency, they will gain entry to the relevant address. For instance, they often get help from neighbors in the same building.
