STS Romania receives European award for locating and saving Ukrainian man lost in the mountains

Romania's Special Telecommunications Service - STS received the "AML & Rescue Award" at the EENA 112 Awards 2023 for the way it handled an emergency call from a Ukrainian refugee lost in the mountains of Suceava county. The European Emergency Number Association (EENA) said that the implementation of advanced mobile location saved the man's life.

STS said that the European specialists appreciated the implementation of the advanced localization functionalities that allowed the reception of AML information for a call made from a non-EU SIM card and in the absence of the Internet. Plus, the entire conversation was carried out in Ukrainian by adding a remote 112 operator to the call.

"Modern technical functionalities, operational adaptations to the context of the refugee crisis in Ukraine and the professionalism of the staff at the 112 emergency service have placed Romania at the top of the best emergency services in Europe," STS said in the press release.

The rescue operation took place in October 2022 when a Ukrainian refugee entered Romania and got lost in the mountainous area of Suceava county in the dark, rain and low visibility. Scared and in danger from wild animals, the man called 112 but could not give any clues about his whereabouts. As he did not know any foreign language, the call was taken over by a remote STS operator who spoke Ukrainian and mediated all communication between the lost person and the rescue crews. The rescuers managed to locate and save the man using advanced localization functionalities.

The "AML & Rescue Award" represents the sixth European award obtained by STS in the 19 years since the single emergency number 112 was implemented in Romania.

(Photo source: Sts.ro)