Power cuts: how to call the emergency services without a network?

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne had gathered ten of her ministers on Monday November 29 to discuss the power cuts that could potentially occur this winter. Following this, an official press release was shared during the Council of Ministers. The aim was to clarify the technical problems that could result from the load shedding measures potentially planned for this winter.

One of the issues discussed was that of decommissioning telephone masts. Indeed, these infrastructures are necessary for the transmission of calls, whatever their nature. They only have a battery life of 30 minutes, excluding cuts could last up to two hours. So far, nothing major. But what if you need to call for help?

Indeed, according to this same press release, the numbers of SAMU (15), police-rescue (17), firefighters (18), social emergencies (115) and rescue at sea (196), will not be reachable. from areas subject to load shedding. The palliative solution proposed by the government: the use of 112, the European emergency number.

This number can go through any operator, so the chance that the call can be made is all the greater: it is enough that the area remains covered by a single operator. However, there is a real risk that even calls to 112 will not go through in rural areas. Another at-risk audience are people without a mobile phone, who are therefore dependent on the power supply to make calls from home.