CELEBRATING OUR MODERN-DAY HEROES, TOGETHER…
The 112 Awards Ceremony rewards outstanding individuals and organisations mainly engaged in improving public safety across Europe.
The 112 Awards Ceremony celebrates modern-day heroes. From incredible rescues and inspirational acts by citizens and emergency services, to public safety innovations and the use of technology for good, we reward those going beyond the expected to help people in danger. We would like to congratulate all of this year’s awardees and thank them for inspiring all of us ! Below you can read all of their stories…
Winners of the 112 awards 2022
Outstanding Rescue Award
Dr. Jens Kleinefeld, Germany
Rescue of the football player Christian Eriksen
Outstanding Rescue Award, Germany
On 12 June 2021, during Denmark’s opening group stage match against Finland in the UEFA Euro 2020, football player Christian Eriksen collapsed on the field due to a cardiac arrest.
Thanks to the swift response of the medical team and UEFA Doctor Jens Kleinfeld, Eriksen was resuscitated on the pitch through early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation.
Bravery Award
Adam El Hamami & Ramy Shehata, Italy
For saving all their classmates from a hijacked school bus
Bravery Award, Italy
Widely publicised rescue of 50 children hijacked by the school bus driver in Milan who threatened to set the bus alight. The situation seemed helpless, but two 13-year-old heroes were on the bus that day. Adam El Hamami and Ramy Shehata knew what to do. Showing extreme bravery, they called the emergency services while pretending to be praying.
Incredibly, they could alert the Carabinieri, the Italian Police and Armed Forces, of what was happening.
Citizen Lifesaving Award
Omar Echakiri, Belgium
For saving an elderly lady trapped a flooded building
Citizen Lifesaving Award, Belgium
In the summer of 2021, Belgium, along with several countries in Europe, suffered dramatic floods.
There was a rescue in the town of Verviers in Liège that did not go unnoticed. Azédine, Omar and Raphaël made national headlines when they managed to break through a wall to rescue an elderly
lady trapped in her home, on the ground floor of a flooded building. This story is living proof that not all heroes wear capes.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Ute and Siegfried Steiger, Germany
For their invaluable contributions to public safety
Lifetime Achievement Award, Germany
Losing a child is one of the hardest things for a parent. Unfortunately, this tragedy happened to this couple, Ute and Siegfried Steiger. They lost their son Björn at age 8 in 1969 after their car was hit and the ambulance arrived far too late and without proper medical equipment.
However, they took this pain and turned it into something positive by creating the Björn Steiger Foundation in memory of their son with the motto that emergency services in Germany would be improved so that no family would have to suffer from this fate.
Unfortunately, Ute and Siegfried both died in March 2022. We pay tribute to their invaluable contributions to public safety in Germany with a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award.
Community Initiative Award
"Les Week-Ends Solidaires", France
For helping people to repair, recover and rebuild from critical events
Community Initiative Award, Belgium
In the wake of Storm Alex, a powerful cyclone that swept southern France in late September 2020, Gil Marsalla and Philippe Roustan felt compelled to help those affected by the disaster.
They created a project called “Les Week Ends Solidaires”, where every Saturday, they organise groups of volunteers to help those who lost everything in the storm’s aftermath. This brigade of volunteers still helps people locally to repair, recover and rebuild from critical events.
An important project that shows how community-led local initiatives and voluntary engagement can have a meaningful contribution to society.
Exceptional Call Taking Award
Comando Generale dell'Arma dei Carabinieri, Italy
For rescue of 50 children hijacked by the school bus driver
Exceptional Call Taking Award, Italy
Along with the extreme bravery of Adam and Ramy, this rescue could not have been possible without the incredible work of the Italian police officers. The Carabinieri showed extreme professionalism and dedication to saving lives, taking the boys’ call seriously and doing as much as
possible to save them. They remained calm under extreme pressure. No one can imagine being on the other end of Adam and Ramy’s phone call, but the Carabinieri ensured that they could find
the children and rescue them to safety.
112 Emergency Communications Centre Award
112 Emergency Communications Service Centre, Greece
For their significant improvements in their Emergency Communications Centre
Emergency Communications Centre Award, Greece
Greece’s 112 Emergency Communications Service was upgraded in January 2020 and has vastly improved emergency communications in the country. This new service combines a unified, multiagency public safety answering capability with a nationwide, integrated public alert and warning system.
112 Greece receives this award for their significant improvements in their Emergency Communications Centre – from expanding incoming communication capabilities from simple phone calls to multimedia communications, including the deployment of AML.
Digital Volunteering Award
VOST Portugal
For providing lifesaving information during Cyclone Idai
Digital Volunteering Award, Portugal
VOST Portugal were providing lifesaving information for citizens and emergency services during Cyclone Idai, which hit Mozambique in March 2019 and led to 1300 losing their lives.
The VOST team published information about its path and advice on social media. An online form was created so that families could give information about loved ones they were unable to locate.
VOST Portugal were also in direct contact with people caught up in the cyclone, including Duarte Gouveia. VOST encouraged him to move away from the coast to higher ground. As the cyclone hit,
they lost contact. Where was Duarte? Using the last video he had posted on Twitter, the team used Google Maps to find his exact location, leading them to a hotel. No communications were
possible, so how to get in touch with him? They used the live chat reservation system of the hotel to contact Duarte, finding him safe. This was the longest activation of VOST in history. During the
8 days that VOST Portugal was activated due to cyclone Idai, the team located 41 people and worked with other volunteers to locate an additional 171.
Hero Award
Casper Stensby, Sweden
For rescuing a girl trapped inside her burning car
Hero Award, Sweden
On a cold winter morning, as Celine was driving to work, her steering wheel got stuck and her car crashed into a tree. Moments later, a fire erupted, and Celine was trapped inside her burning car.
She panicked and did everything she could to get herself out of it, but she was trapped.
Thankfully, 16-year-old Casper Stensby happened to be passing by on his way to school, and he
heard Celine’s cries for help. The young boy wasted no time and immediately ran to rescue her.
Not only did Casper happen to be in the right place at the right time, but he also showed extreme courage and selflessness in putting his life on the line to save the life of an unknown person.
Innovation in Rescue Award
SOS Alarm, Sweden For incorporating drones in the EMS dispatching
Innovation in Rescue Award, Sweden
What sounds like a futuristic story, turns out to be an incredible team effort that led to saving a life. A 71-year-old experienced a cardiac arrest while shoveling snow. However, the odds were in his favor, and he was resuscitated by a nearby doctor who was on his way to
work. The doctor began performing CPR while asking a bystander to call 112. Three minutes later, help arrived in the air by a drone carrying a defibrillator – this is described as the first defibrillator delivery by drone in medical history.
This technology, fully integrated with emergency dispatch, can minimise the time for access to the life-saving AED equipment and kickstart the life-saving process before the ambulance arrives on-scene.
For incorporating drones in the EMS dispatching and for the innovative use of this gamechanging technology to save lives, SOS Alarm wins this award.