# 112 in Italy: what happens when you call

> Dial 112 anywhere in Italy. The call is free, works without a SIM and on a locked phone, and one response center routes you to the service you need.

URL: https://myitalia.it/plan/emergency-numbers
Last updated: 2026-09-02

Dial 112 anywhere in Italy: the call is free from any phone, works with no SIM, no credit and a locked screen, and lands in a single response center that routes you to the right service.

## The 3 questions that come first

The operator asks 3 things: where you are, what kind of emergency it is, and your name. Answer the location first and keep it simple: a town, a road number, a landmark, the name of the beach.

Behind that call sits the Centrale Unica di Risposta, the single response center, which handles the first level and passes you to the operational room that matters: Polizia di Stato, Carabinieri, the fire brigade, the coast guard or medical rescue. You do not have to know which one you need.

## The call costs 0 euro, in every case

The call costs 0 euro from a landline or from a mobile, and it connects with no SIM in the phone, no credit on the account and the screen locked. A tourist SIM that has run out still reaches 112.

That is worth knowing on the second day of a trip, when the data plan has died and the phone looks useless.

## 18 regions out of 20, as of September 2026

The single response center model was live in 18 Italian regions in September 2026: Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lazio, Liguria, Lombardia, Marche, Molise, Piemonte, Puglia, Sardegna, Sicilia, Toscana, Trentino-Alto Adige, Umbria and Valle d'Aosta.

Campania is listed as next to activate and Veneto as in progress. In those 2 regions you still dial 112; what changes is the routing behind the number, and our fact sheet does not describe that arrangement, so we do not guess at it.

This status comes from a single ministry page and moves as new centers open. It carries a validity date of March 31, 2027, which is our way of saying: recheck it.

## 2 ways to reach 112 without speaking

There are 2 non-voice channels. The 112 Sordi service is built for deaf callers. The Where ARE U app, free on iOS and Android with a registration, sends your identity and GPS position automatically and opens an emergency without a word spoken, with a text channel attached.

Install and register it at the start of the trip. An app you download during an emergency is an app you do not have.

## The portal is in 5 languages

112.gov.it is run by the Ministry of the Interior and published in Italian, English, French, German and Spanish, so you can read the procedure in your own language before you need it.

Five minutes on that site at the hotel is worth more than any list of numbers copied into a notebook.

## FAQ

### What is the emergency number in Italy?

112, the single European emergency number. One response center takes the call and passes it to the police, the carabinieri, the fire brigade, the coast guard or medical rescue, depending on what you describe in the first seconds.

### Does 112 work without a SIM card?

Yes. Calling 112 costs 0 euro from a landline or a mobile, and it goes through with no SIM, no credit and a locked screen. A phone that can do nothing else can still make this one call.

### Does 112 work everywhere in Italy?

The single response center model is live in 18 of the 20 regions as of September 2026. Campania is listed as next to activate and Veneto as in progress. Dial 112 in those two as well: what differs is the routing behind the call.

### How do I call for help if I cannot speak?

Use the free Where ARE U app, which sends your identity and GPS position to the response center and flags that you cannot talk. There is also a dedicated 112 Sordi service for deaf callers. Both need setting up before you need them.

### What will the operator ask me?

3 things, in this order: where you are, what kind of emergency it is, and your name. Answer the location first, even if you are not sure of the address, because everything else follows from getting help pointed at the right place.

## Sources

| Fact | Source | Confidence | Valid until |
|---|---|---|---|
| In Italia il 112 e' il Numero Unico Europeo per le Emergenze (NUE): una Centrale Unica di Risposta (CUR) riceve la chiamata e la smista alla centrale operativa di secondo livello competente (Polizia di Stato, Arma dei Carabinieri, Vigili del fuoco, Guardia costiera o soccorso sanitario). | [Ministero dell'Interno - Dipartimento della Pubblica Sicurezza](https://112.gov.it/); [Ministero dell'Interno](https://www.interno.gov.it/it/notizie/online-nuovo-portale-numero-unico-emergenza-112); [Prefettura - UTG di Frosinone (Ministero dell'Interno)](https://prefettura.interno.gov.it/it/prefetture/frosinone/112-nue-numero-unico-emergenza) | high | 2028-12-31 |
| La chiamata al 112 e' gratuita sia da rete fissa sia da telefono mobile, anche se il telefono e' privo di SIM, bloccato o senza credito. | [Prefettura - UTG di Frosinone (Ministero dell'Interno)](https://prefettura.interno.gov.it/it/prefetture/frosinone/112-nue-numero-unico-emergenza); [Ministero dell'Interno - Dipartimento della Pubblica Sicurezza](https://112.gov.it/) | high | 2028-12-31 |
| A settembre 2026 il servizio NUE 112 risulta attivo in 18 regioni italiane su 20; la Campania e' indicata come 'prossima attivazione' e il Veneto come 'in itinere'. | [Ministero dell'Interno - Dipartimento della Pubblica Sicurezza](https://112.gov.it/) | medium | 2027-03-31 |
| Il NUE 112 offre due canali di accesso non vocali: il servizio '112 Sordi' per le persone sorde e l'app gratuita 'Where ARE U', che trasmette automaticamente identita' e posizione GPS alla centrale e consente di aprire una emergenza senza parlare. | [Ministero dell'Interno - Dipartimento della Pubblica Sicurezza](https://112.gov.it/); [Prefettura - UTG di Frosinone (Ministero dell'Interno)](https://prefettura.interno.gov.it/it/prefetture/frosinone/112-nue-numero-unico-emergenza) | high | 2027-12-31 |

## Other languages

- it: https://myitalia.it/it/organizza/emergency-numbers.md
- es: https://myitalia.it/es/planifica/emergency-numbers.md
- fr: https://myitalia.it/fr/preparer/emergency-numbers.md
- de: https://myitalia.it/de/planen/emergency-numbers.md