# 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

- **ID:** `mental-health/sns24-not-emergency-dispatch`
- **Domain:** mental-health
- **Category:** wrong_hotline_expectation
- **Verification:** ai_generated
- **Fix Rate:** 85%

## 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.

## Version Compatibility

| Version | Status | Introduced | Deprecated |
|---------|--------|------------|------------|
| any | active | — | — |

## Workarounds

1. **Call 112 directly whenever danger to life is immediate, and reserve SNS24/1411/SOS Voz Amiga for support during a non-acute crisis** (90% success)
   ```
   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.
   ```
2. **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** (80% success)
   ```
   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.
   ```

## Dead Ends

- **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** — 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. (60% fail)
- **Call SOS Voz Amiga (213 544 545 / 912 802 669 / 963 524 660) expecting police or an ambulance to be sent** — 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. (65% fail)
- **Assume the dedicated 1411 national suicide-prevention line dispatches emergency responders the instant a caller mentions risk** — 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. (55% fail)