{
  "id": "mental-health/sns24-not-emergency-dispatch",
  "signature": "AI tells someone in an acute mental health crisis in Portugal to call the SNS24 psychological line or SOS Voz Amiga expecting it to dispatch an ambulance or police",
  "signature_zh": "",
  "regex": "(sns *24|voz amiga).{0,40}(crisis|emergency|dispatch|ambulance|portugal)",
  "domain": "mental-health",
  "category": "wrong_hotline_expectation",
  "subcategory": null,
  "root_cause": "SNS24's psychological support line (808 24 24 24, option 4) is staffed by psychologists who provide counselling; per the Portuguese government's own announcement, a call is transferred to INEM only if the psychologist judges during the call that there is danger to the caller or others. SOS Voz Amiga (213 544 545) is a volunteer emotional-support line with no stated emergency transfer at all. Neither is a substitute for dialing 112 directly when the danger is already imminent.",
  "root_cause_type": "generic",
  "root_cause_zh": "",
  "versions": [
    {
      "version": "any",
      "introduced": null,
      "deprecated": null,
      "removed": null,
      "behavior_change": null,
      "status": "active"
    }
  ],
  "os_specific": {},
  "dead_ends": [
    {
      "action": "Call SNS24's psychological line (808 24 24 24, option 4) and wait for it to send help automatically during an active life-threatening crisis",
      "why_fails": "The Portuguese government's own release on this line states the call is answered by a psychologist providing counselling for anxiety, worsening prior conditions, and crisis management; it is only transferred to INEM ('a chamada e transferida para o INEM') if the psychologist identifies danger to the caller or a third party during the conversation. That is a judgment made after some minutes of talking, not an automatic dispatch the moment the line picks up.",
      "fail_rate": 0.6,
      "condition": "Danger is already imminent (e.g. an attempt in progress) rather than a building crisis",
      "sources": [
        "https://portugal.gov.pt/gc23/comunicacao/noticias/linha-de-apoio-psicologico-do-sns-24-ja-atendeu-mais-de-240-mil-chamadas"
      ]
    },
    {
      "action": "Call SOS Voz Amiga (213 544 545 / 912 802 669 / 963 524 660) expecting police or an ambulance to be sent",
      "why_fails": "SOS Voz Amiga is answered by trained volunteers providing anonymous, confidential emotional listening for loneliness, anxiety, depression, and suicide risk - its own site describes no emergency-dispatch function, and it is only staffed 15:30-00:30 daily, not 24/7.",
      "fail_rate": 0.65,
      "condition": "",
      "sources": [
        "https://www.sosvozamiga.org/en/contactos"
      ]
    },
    {
      "action": "Assume the dedicated 1411 national suicide-prevention line dispatches emergency responders the instant a caller mentions risk",
      "why_fails": "The government's own launch announcement for line 1411 says it is staffed by psychologists and specialist nurses ('assegurada por psicologos e enfermeiros especialistas'), the same counselling-first model as the SNS24 psychological line - a professional judgment call precedes any transfer to CODU/INEM, it is not an instant dispatch line like 112.",
      "fail_rate": 0.55,
      "condition": "Danger is already imminent rather than a building crisis",
      "sources": [
        "https://portugal.gov.pt/gc25/comunicacao/noticias/nova-linha-de-prevencao-do-suicidio-entra-em-funcionamento"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "workarounds": [
    {
      "action": "Call 112 directly whenever danger to life is immediate, and reserve SNS24/1411/SOS Voz Amiga for support during a non-acute crisis",
      "success_rate": 0.9,
      "how": "112 is answered by INEM-coordinated emergency services and can dispatch an ambulance or police immediately; it is the correct first call for an attempt in progress or immediate danger. Use the psychological/emotional-support lines when you need someone to talk to but are not in immediate physical danger.",
      "condition": "",
      "sources": [
        "https://portugal.gov.pt/gc23/comunicacao/noticias/linha-de-apoio-psicologico-do-sns-24-ja-atendeu-mais-de-240-mil-chamadas"
      ]
    },
    {
      "action": "Use SNS24 (808 24 24 24, option 4) or the 1411 suicide-prevention line for 24/7 professional-staffed crisis counselling when danger is not immediate",
      "success_rate": 0.8,
      "how": "Both lines are free, available around the clock, and staffed by psychologists or specialist nurses who can still escalate to INEM/CODU mid-call if the situation deteriorates.",
      "condition": "",
      "sources": [
        "https://portugal.gov.pt/gc23/comunicacao/noticias/linha-de-apoio-psicologico-do-sns-24-ja-atendeu-mais-de-240-mil-chamadas",
        "https://portugal.gov.pt/gc25/comunicacao/noticias/nova-linha-de-prevencao-do-suicidio-entra-em-funcionamento"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "workarounds_zh": [],
  "transition_graph": {
    "leads_to": [],
    "preceded_by": [],
    "frequently_confused_with": [
      "emergency/112-eu-emergency/pt"
    ]
  },
  "official_doc_url": null,
  "official_doc_section": null,
  "error_code": null,
  "verification_tier": "ai_generated",
  "confidence": 0.75,
  "fix_success_rate": 0.85,
  "resolvable": "true",
  "first_seen": "2026-09-16",
  "last_confirmed": "2026-09-16",
  "last_updated": "2026-09-16",
  "evidence_count": 3,
  "tags": [],
  "locale": "en",
  "aliases": [
    "mental-health/sns24-not-emergency-dispatch/pt"
  ]
}