Hospital Bernhoven in Uden and the Máxima Medical Center in Eindhoven and Veldhoven are suffering from a national telephone outage. Calls to these hospitals cannot be made and outgoing telephone traffic is also disrupted. Several municipalities in Brabant are also struggling with this, including Asten, Best, Deurme, Hilvarenbeek and Maashorst are completely inaccessible.
The hospitals are customers of Vodafone. Other customers of this telecom provider, including possibly other hospitals in Brabant, are also suffering from a fault on the mobile network of this company. This can make mobile calling impossible. Calling the emergency number 112 can also be more difficult, the Central and West Brabant Security Region reports. The fire brigade and the police in Southeast Brabant also warn of this.
Calling emergency cell phones
In Bernhoven, calls can only be made from the hospital with emergency mobile phones. These devices have been distributed in all departments, Bernhoven can be reached urgently via the emergency number 0413-870300. The internal telephone network in the Uden hospital does work as it should.
The Jeroen Bosch Hospital in Den Bosch was affected by the malfunction, but the problems are over here.
Vodafone warns customers that they could be in contact with 112, but will not hear anything or cannot be understood by the operators of the emergency number. The company gives the tip to call 112 with a landline.
Vodafone reported the malfunction early Friday morning. The company says it has found the cause and states that the malfunction is already getting less serious. In case of problems, Vodafone customers can best call via services such as WhatsApp or FaceTime. Because these are internet services, they are not affected.
An alternative is the 112NL app. This allows people to call the 112 telephone exchange, but also chat. The app also has a translation function for people who do not speak Dutch or English. They can still chat with 112 in emergency situations. The app is also practical for the deaf and hard of hearing and people who have difficulty speaking.