Emergency calls are answered in English and Spanish in Sao Paulo

Phone calls made in Sao Paulo via mobile for well known worldwide emergency numbers such as the 911 (USA), 110 (Japan) and 112 (European Union), for example, will be lead to the 190 (Brazil) and an interpreter will be able to help overseas.

The current service is available in English and Spanish, but soon it will be answered also in Japanese and Italian, according to the Department of Public Safety. Landline calls will be available soon enough for the World Cup 2014 which is the reason behind this change.

Insidesaopaulo tested the service
Concerning about the efficiency, the ISP Team tested the service and it works. First of all, the call is answered inside the police's headoffice and a Portuguese speaker transfers your call to an English or Spanish speaker. The calls made via any well known emergency number around the world end up on the police head office. This service is not so popular yet, so it might to get a quick answering.