Emergency Services Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities

This document explains the obligations of EU Member states to ensure equivalent access under recent legislation and explores in detail the solutions available. The European legislation on accessibility of emergency services will be presented in detail, alongside current solutions which can be implemented.

Find here the main conclusions of this document:

• Every EU country must implement a standard-based, reliable, effective solution which enables equal access to emergency services for persons with disabilities.
• The number to contact emergency services should be the same for everybody.
• The solution must perform consistently and precisely and must be usable with high confidence, based on 24h/365 days service provision.
• The solution should perform everywhere, including when the user is roaming. To ensure this, the implementation of NG112 is crucial.
• Emergency services must ensure that they establish appropriate procedures for the management of communication with users with disabilities, including adequate training of call-takers and dispatchers.
• The available solutions must be well communicated to the public also in an accessible manner, to ensure that persons with disabilities are aware of how they can contact emergency services. As the pros and cons in the document show, total conversation provides the best equivalent access to emergency services.
• Best practices should be shared so that countries and organisations can learn from each other.