Oost-Nederland dispatch center, largest in country, goes unresponsive on several nights
The Netherlands’ largest ambulance dispatch center has repeatedly gone offline at night and stopped taking 112 emergency calls because of severe staffing shortages, according to internal documents obtained by Omroep Gelderland. This happened on the night of September 30 to October 1 and the night of October 5 to October 6. “This is about life or death. 112 must always be easily reachable,” said Patiëntenfederatie.
The Oost-Nederland Dispatch Center in Apeldoorn, which serves 3.2 million people in Gelderland and Overijssel, has been forced to reroute all incoming emergency calls to other centers on multiple occasions. Officials say the shortages are driven by rising demand, a shortage of nurses, higher absenteeism, and staff turnover.
On a typical night, three dispatches answer 112 calls while others coordinate ambulances and handle lines for professional responders. On the night of September 30, for example, staffing was so low that managers decided early in the evening to “go dark,” sending every 112 call to the smaller Noord-Nederland center instead.
“Imagine having to wait an extra minute while your husband, wife, or child may be dying. Those are 60 very long seconds. It is possible that a life cannot be saved because of this,” said Caroline van der Plas of the BBB party, which had previously received warnings about understaffing.
An anonymous dispatcher told Omroep Gelderland about one case in which a call about a car that had crashed into a tree - leaving one person dead and two seriously injured - was not answered for 45 seconds. “Had it made a difference to the final outcome? I don’t know. But that phone should simply have been answered much faster,” the dispatcher said.
The cooperating ambulance regions said the average wait time in 2026 was 14.8 seconds and that they have “no indication that patient safety is at risk.” They stressed that the center never goes completely dark - dispatchers continue directing ambulances and taking calls from professional responders - and that national cooperation among the country’s nine dispatch centers is designed precisely for such overflow situations. “112 is always answered,” the regions said in a joint statement.
Immediately after the September 30 incident, the regions entered crisis mode: training and non-essential duties were suspended, and supervisors who are normally extra staff were counted toward minimum roster numbers. The Health and Youth Care Inspectorate was notified. Despite the measures, the center went dark again less than a week later.
The Ministry of Health was informed on October 13. Officials said they would stay in contact with the regions and noted that legislation is being prepared to make it easier for the five safety regions that share the Apeldoorn center to pool staff and resources. Those regions have formally cooperated since 2023 but still operate with separate procedures and employment arrangements, limiting flexibility.
The regions also said they are preparing a public campaign urging people to call 112 only in acute or life-threatening situations. A new dispatcher requires nine months of training before becoming fully operational.