Last Wednesday marked the European Day recognising 112 as the emergency number - a day where the importance of this phone number is reminded, and where statistics associated with the previous year are also issued.
During 2025, a total of 384,468 calls were made to 112 with 184,693 calls - 48% of all calls - deemed to be either not appropriate for the emergency line or be false or abandoned calls, the Home Affairs Ministry and Education Ministry said in a joint statement marking the day.
A total of 96,416 genuine and valid calls were escalated to the second level of response, with 79.2% of them being directed to the Emergency Department at Mater Dei Hospital, 12.5% to the Civil Protection Department, 8.1% to the Malta Police Force, and 0.2% to the Armed Forces of Malta.
These numbers are largely in parallel with those of 2024: During that year, a total of 408,000 calls were made to the emergency line, but only just over 90,000 of them - equivalent to 22% - were genuine emergencies.
It shows that there is a general pattern: emergency services still receive thousands of calls which are not genuine emergencies or, worse, which are hoax or fake calls.
There is a level of education to this: people need to be aware as to what constitutes a good reason to call up 112 and seek emergency intervention.
The government's introduction of a new hotline - 1400 - where people in need of medical assistance which is less severe in nature can call and be guided to various clinics across Malta as is deemed fit by the professionals who answer the phone is a good step forward.
If a person calls 1400 and it turns out to be an emergency case, the call will still be redirected to the Emergency Department. This is a good initiative intended at easing the pressures at Mater Dei Hospital's emergency department, however it feels as if not enough people actually know about it in order for the full intention behind it to be achieved.
One then also needs to consider that there are some people who carry out hoax calls on the emergency number. Why anyone would feel possessed to do such a thing is a mystery. Few actions could be more riddled with stupidity than taking up the precious time of those operating the emergency line with a hoax call.
The difference between life and death in an emergency can be a matter of seconds, and those seconds may be taken up by someone who thinks they're funny taking up the valuable time of emergency operators.
The biggest way that these hoax calls can be reduced is if they are taken seriously by authorities, and those who make the calls are traced and face consequences for their actions.
Minister Byron Camilleri also announced on Wednesday that the Ministry has been working on the introduction of an alert system known as Reverse 112, which will enable every mobile phone connected to local antennas in Malta, regardless of the SIM card's country of origin, to receive emergency notifications and instructions when necessary.
This will be an especially important tool for authorities so that in situations such as Storm Harry a few weeks ago, integral safety information can be shared effectively to all those in the country.