Talk:Emergency telephone number

Texting and 911

Does anyone have any information on texting 911? (Or whatever the other #s are). Everything I can find so far is very outdated. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.189.113.196 (talk) 01:18, 21 August 2010 (UTC)

It is possible to text 117, the emergency telephone number in the Philippines. The service is called "Text 117". So far it's the only emergency telephone number that can be texted, as far as I know. --Sky Harbor ^(talk) 14:16, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Turkey in Europe

As Geographically Turkey is part of both Asia and Europe, and politically is a candidate for membership of the EU, it would make more sense for Turkey to be mentioned under the European section.--SolDrury 09:03, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

That's a political hot potato. The bulk of the country is in Asia, a potential counter-argument, which this isn't the page for ;-) We could always have a Eurasia section... – Kieran T ^(talk) 11:12, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

Combining material

Information on the Emergency services number is duplicated here. Perhaps the best title is (Universal) Emergency telephone number, as that is what 9-1-1 is called, and most similar numbers in other countries are called also called an Emergency Telephone Number. If everything gets collected here, under one name it would save duplication. Any Thoughts? kiwiinapanic 12:36 Dec 31, 2002 (UTC) Reviewed kiwiinapanic 09:22 Jan 19, 2003 (UTC)

Additional topics to be covered:

• mention telephony as essential service
• mobile phones have made emergency reporting more pervasive
• treatment of silent emergency calls

Copied the above from a longer list on the page. I've filled in the information which was in bullet form at the bottom of the page, and also under that 'Addition topics to be covered' header. Stick in the above if you can fit it somewhere. As it is, Configuration and Operation section is a tad unwieldy - could be improved!

Zoney 20:58, 13 Mar 2004 (UTC)

GSM in the US using 112?

For example, some people have reported that 112 works on GSM networks in the United States.

This is an extremely weak statement, either 112 works on a particular GSM network in the States, or it doesn't. Could anyone give specific examples? Pete/Pcb21 (talk) 08:48, 24 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I agree. I'm pretty sure that 112 as an emergency number is standard for all GSM networks, even in US, but this needs confirmed I guess!

Zoney 11:48, 24 Apr 2004 (UTC)

And, it should go without saying, DON'T try it to see if it works.

Anonymous

112 is universal it should work on any GSM network in the world. --Adbabypenguin 02:31, 29 September 2005 (UTC)

GSM specifications define 112 as a standard number for all emergency calls. There is usually in addition more numbers that can be defined (e.g. 911 in America, 000 in Australia). Optionally a SIM card can also define emergency numbers. The signalling to the network is such that "emergency call" is made and the number 112 is not sent to the network (so in the US, the numbers dialled 112 or 911 are indistuingishable by the network). Now, whether a network wants to direct your call is another story. Some networks will not process the emergency call if there is no SIM card inserted, other networks may give you not entirely what you might expect (e.g. Germany is the Fire service, not Police as some may think as it is in some other countries). --Jason Curl 17:30, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

I had a phone in Cingular GSM network when I lived in US. One day by accident (the phone was in my pocket or something like that) it dialed 112 and sudenly I heard a voice. I was conected to an emergency number, so it does work. I hope that my unfortunate accident will answer some qestions and again as written above: "And, it should go without saying, DON'T try it to see if it works." CrZTgR 2006.12.20

It works on T-Mobile as well. I needed to call one day to report an accident and the number did work on T-Mobile. CaribDigita (talk) 06:53, 8 November 2008 (UTC)

World common emergency number

Is there any United Nations or similar international authority or treat for a common world number? I could suggest 9112.

My thought would be to make 911 OR 112 work anywhere in the world (much like 112 or 999 works in Britain). Then anyone could use whichever they're familiar with. Radagast 19:49, 30 September 2005 (UTC)

As GSM works most everywhere in the world, and 112 is the common GSM emergency number, I think 112 would be the natural choice, should such a feat ever be accomplished. --Teemu Leisti 21:32, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

The problem with trying to implement 911 on a worldwide basis is that in many places there are legitimate local numbers which start with the digits 911. Although a timeout could be implemented (for landlines, cellular is different, of course), it would be far from ideal. For all practical purposes, renumbering to remove local numbers starting with 911 would be a prerequisite. 87.113.136.95 (talk) 20:24, 3 May 2012 (UTC)

Merging 9-1-1 and 1-1-2

• Don't merge. Any duplication is fine. -- Reinyday, 08:16, 28 August 2005 (UTC)
• Oppose, and who is suggesting it anyway? Jooler
• Also oppose. NSR (talk) 14:33, 14 September 2005 (UTC)
• Oppose - Emergency telephone number can cover the generic topic; the geographic-specific numbers can cover those areas. --Daveb 06:46, 25 September 2005 (UTC)
• Oppose - 911 is seperate from 112, and 911 is only North American. --Adbabypenguin 02:32, 29 September 2005 (UTC)

Poland's emergency telephone number

Could someone with knowledge fix the Poland number? Is it 999 as suggested by the list or 112 as suggested by EU list?

999 is the standard emergency number in Poland, but 112 will also work (as Poland is in the EU). Proto t c 09:47, 2 September 2005 (UTC)

In Poland both numbers are in use:

• 112: Any emergency
• 999: Ambulance
• 998: Fire brigade
• 997: Police

CrZTgR 2006.12.20

This seems to have been fixed. Spel-Punc-Gram (talk) 22:21, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

dont merge with 911

Please don't merge with 911. 112 is the international GSM emergency number and redirects to the local number in any nation in the world. 911 is only used in the US and canada. - User:adbabypenguin

Not true: I dialled 112 in Thailand when my wife needed an ambulance, and it's an invalid number.

I was told to dial 1169 which is different to the number listed in the table. Spel-Punc-Gram (talk) 22:13, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

Non existant wiki-linked numbers

All the red links on this page that link to not-yet-created pages for #-#-# are a problem. Are we to suppose they will all eventually have pages? The one important function they serve right now is that it helps them stand out. I propose we bold all the numbers, and link only the ones that exist or will probably exist (or should exist). Is that allowable within the style guidelines? Anyone have another suggestion or a problem with this suggestion? Thoughts? -- Renesis13 00:23, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

I don't have anything to add to this problem specifically, but another thing that needs to be fixed is the fact that some of the number links redirect back to this page (1-1-2 and 1-0-1 and 1-0-0 are examples of this).--El Zilcho 21:31, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

I followed the suggestions above. I removed all links that either directed to a non-existing page, or to a page that was about a year, not a telephone number (for instance, 9-1-1 is about the telephone number, and 911 abou the year), and then bolded the number. I left those links that referred to some other page than an article about a year, or this article itself. I also made numerous stylistic improvements, at least in my humble opinion. --Teemu Leisti 21:30, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Thank you, it looks good. :) -- Renesis13 03:36, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

Emergency calls on mobile phones

The section on mobile phones and the handling of emergency calls is unclear and may be innacurate. No-one seems able to clearly answer what priorities a 112 gets on GSM, whether the same priorities apply to 911 and 999, whether a sim card and credit is required, the limitations on 'roaming' or hijacking another network when out of signal. This confusion appears pretty widespread, for example the MobileShop.org says:

"Emergency Calls To make an emergency call, dial 112. This sets up a priority call to the emergency operator, cutting through any network congestion. 999 will also work in the UK, but may not get priority treatment from the mobile network. Some phone manuals or displays suggest that you can make an emergency call through another network if your network has no coverage, or with no sim card in the handset. Although the GSM specification requires this facility in the hardware, none of the UK networks will accept such calls. No sim, or no service from your network, and you can't make that emergency call!"

Which is plain wrong, i have made several successful 999 calls in the UK without credit or signal. The phone display reads 'attempting emergency call' and the signal bar re-appears when connection is made (using another network provider). I would suggest that any further claims about what mobile emergency calls do and do not allow be suitably referenced.

I added the citation needed to the claim about 'some GSM networks will only connect a phone with an account', as this would appear to be in contravention of the GSM emergency call standard, and thus unlikely. Any thoughts peeps? MrFire 18:20, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

999/112 can be called from any GSM phone on any public mobile phone network in the UK (and most other countries I believe). The bizarre info quoted is quite wrong. You do not need credit, or an active account to make an emergency call. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.6.102.83 (talk) 23:23, 20 October 2013 (UTC)

France?

This paragraph HAS to be fixed:

In France, in 1928, telephone operators had to connect the calls for emergency reasons even when the phone service was closed. In 1929, an automatic connection system was set up, initially for fewer than 10,000 people in Paris, allowing them to dial 18 to reach the fire brigade. The service was not widespread until the 1970s.

What I THINK the writer is trying to say is that many small manual telephone exchanges were closed at night and sometimes on weekends, but there may have been provision to wake the operator in an emergency. While the French telephone service was notoriously inefficient, the manual exchanges in Paris and other large cities would still have been open 24/7. Large or small, it usually wasn't necessary to ask for the emergency services by number on a manual system.

The next thing I THINK the writer is trying to say is that the first automatic (dial) exhange opened in Paris in 1929, and it served less than 10,000 subscribers. However, it made provision for calling the fire brigade (Pompiers) and ambulance by dialing 18. The writer doesn't mention it, but the number for police was 17. As more exchanges were converted to dial operation, more subscribers had access to these special numbers. In fact, France eventually had at least eight two-digit special service codes, all numbered 1X. In addition to emergency services, they were used for long distance, telegrams, repair service, and complaints.

If the date of 1929 is correct, then 999 technically was not the first standardized emergency number to be used. I own one French telephone that was factory-converted to dial operation in the mid-1920's, and as nearly as I can tell, the center of the dial only contains dialing instructions. I have several later French phones, and they all list the series of two-digit special service codes in the center of the dials.

RogerInPDX 06:47, 6 May 2007 (UTC)RogerInPDX

Asia to Table

I have just converted Asia section's list to a table. If someone would like to proofread it, it would be nice, I don't want to have made any mistake as people might actually depend on this. --Voidvector 18:15, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

List cleanup completed?

I've edited the last of the "sprawling lists", now the South America section is in tabular form. Does this merit removal of the "cleanup" tag? Dbingham 18:31, 4 July 2007 (UTC)

Why isn't 999 universal?

I understand that each country has their own telephone system, that became active at different times etc. However, why hasn't 999 (or any other triplicated digit) achieved global use? In an emergency, under stress, in darkness or smoke, isn't it easiest to find 1 button and hit it 3 times? I always thought that the emergency number should be the simplest possible number to dial, and yet not be so simple to misdial. 999 fits that bill, but I don't believe 911 or 112 do. Am I over-engineering this?82.20.22.181 23:53, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

You may have your point, but Wikipedia is not for personal opinions. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a forum.--Joshua ^{Say "hi" to me!}_{What have I done?} 03:05, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

Gosh, you're right. Perhaps that's why I was asking on the DISCUSSION PAGE for an elaboration on the article? Hmm? Did you notice that I added neither opinion, nor unverifiable information to the article? Don't you think there might be a place in an encyclopedia for the evolution and engineering studies of emergency telephone numbers? Can anyone else offer any (useful) information?86.0.121.102 12:23, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

A thought on the ease of dialing emergency numbers under stress, poor visibility, etc: With the old dial phones, 999 was (apparently) chosen in the UK (etc) because the number (hole in the dial) could be easily found, but was the least likely combination to be dialed accidentally (or quickly!). Presumably similar logic was behind the choice of 911 in the States. However, with modern (key pad) phones the number 9 is no longer the last (or second to last) number, it is the 9th out of 12, and so not particulary easy to find. Therefore, numbers based on the first digits would seem to make more sense, as the number 1 is always the first key on any phone. Of course, the fact that a number is easy to dial also increases the chances of it being dialed by mistake, so 111 wouldn't be a good idea. So perhaps this is the logic behind the (near) universal adoption of 112? Although I can't help feeling that 123 or even 147 would have been a better choice - almost as easy to dial (and easier to remember?), but less likely to be dialed by accident. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.34.152.49 (talk) 22:47, 28 May 2011 (UTC)

The use of 111 was not acceptable in the days when pulse dialing was used and most subscriber lines used overhead wires. During windy conditions overhead wires could clash, giving false dialing pulses. Often on small automatic exchanges the number 9 routed calls to the main exchange, so 999 routed call to the Emergency Operator. Actually in those days 99 on the main exchange gave access to the Emergency Operator. In the majority of exchanges the Emegency Operator was a special board alongside the regular operators. While the number 0 gave access to normal Operator services. Brian426uk (talk) 23:09, 4 September 2011 (UTC)

Your correspondent notes ease of dialling 999 in smoke. You'll notice that 999 was introduced in the UK in 1937 when war was imminent. Notices were put in phone boxes (only the well-off had private phones) with instructions for dialling 999 in smoke or the blackout. One would feel for the finger stop, then to the left and place the first and second fingers in the first two holes one came to. Lifting the second finger would leave the first in the nine. It only remained to drag the dial round clockwise and release it (you would hear the mechanism clicking as it returned) then repeat the process two more times. 2.28.217.44 (talk) 13:06, 11 February 2015 (UTC)

112 in Germany

I live in Germany and 112 is reserverd for fire department and ambulance. The German Police is avaible by dialling 110. I have never heard that Police is directly avaible to 112. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.135.51.40 (talk) 14:55, 14 August 2009 (UTC)

I changed police to 110 but it was undone later by someone else. If you call 112 in Germany you will be connected to a "call center" ("Leitstelle") of the fire departement/ambulance and NOT to the police. If you call 110 you will be connected to the police. The EU regulations did not change that. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.48.47.15 (talk) 18:51, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

I just looked threw the websites of all 16 police (www.polizei.de) and 15 of them mention 110 as the telephone number. (On the site of the police of Thuringia no number is mentioned) and not a single one of them mentions 112. The federal police and the BKA also only mention 110. I also looked at the sources 6,7,8,9 and none of them state that Germany's police is available through 112. Source 8 even lists 110 for police in Germany. I will therefore put 110 back as the German police number. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.49.168.25 (talk) 14:55, 26 May 2010 (UTC)

NotrufV, § 1 Notrufnummern "Neben der europaeinheitlich vorgegebenen Notrufnummer 112 wird die Rufnummer 110 als zusätzliche nationale Notrufnummer festgelegt." source: http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/notrufv/__1.html Rough English translation of this German law: "Besides the emergency number 112, which is prescribed by European law, the phone number 110 is designated to be an additional, national emergency number." According to this source, both numbers are emergency numbers in Germany, but it does not prescribe which is to be used by which emergency service (fire/police/ambulance) - they are equally valid. 87.84.103.101 (talk) 23:22, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Moreover, this EU website (http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/112/how/index_en.htm) states that 112 can be used in all EU countries "to contact any emergency service". 87.84.103.101 (talk) 23:27, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

But that does not change that you will be connected to the fire brigade call center on calling 112. They can and will divert your call to 110 if you need solely the police. But 110 still connects directly to the police. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.49.133.216 (talk) 08:34, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

Why is there the comment "some operators do not speak English and may hang up the call;". This is not neutral. Delete it or add this note to every non-english speaking country. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.196.131.91 (talk) 17:28, 11 August 2010 (UTC)

UK in the table

In my experience nobody in the UK would use 112 in an emergency (obviosuly there are some but my emphasis is to demonstrate how very rare it is) and therefore I would suggest swapping 999 as the emergency number and then putting 112 in the note section. I'm sure other EU countries are the same but I have know experience of them. Any thoughts? RaseaC (talk) 12:35, 20 September 2009 (UTC)

Further; I've had a look around on the internet and can't really find any official website that uses 112 as an emergency number, so I've gone ahead and made the change. Also, I've removed redundant 101 information and removed the details about calling the gas company, as this is non-notable. RaseaC (talk) 13:22, 20 September 2009 (UTC)

112 is the accepted standard emergency number throughout the European Union, as a member of this Union, the UK telecoms companies have accepted the need for this number to be added to the Emergency Call Service, so if a visitor from Europe needs the Police, Fire or Ambulance service, the 112 call is routed through to the "999 Operator". --ATurtle05 (talk) 22:18, 19 November 2011 (UTC)

I live in the UK and have anaphylaxis, so need to call emergency services quite often. I use 112 sometimes as it is easier to dial from a mobile phone when you are very unwell/shaky (I find that calling 999 when shaking / dizzy is more likely to result in me dropping my phone due to the position of the number on the screen / keypad). Many EU citizens, especially those who use emergency services regularly, are aware that 112 can be used throughout the European Union and so dial this whichever EU country they are in. To just say that 'nobody' uses 112 in the UK is utterly false. Most public pay phones clearly state that 112 or 999 can be used. The current listing is fine, so it should not be altered again. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.6.102.83 (talk) 23:18, 20 October 2013 (UTC)

Israel

1. 112 is redirected to 100 (police). 2. For all countries I this a distinction should be made between mobiles and land phones. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Giladasaf (talk • contribs) 10:14, 24 November 2010 (UTC)

Winnipeg

I have amended this entry -

"The first implementation of the 911 system was deployed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in 1959 at the urging of Stephen Juba, mayor of Winnipeg at the time"

- since it suggested that 911 was adopted as the emergency number in Winnipeg in 1959, which is not the case. I've also made a minor edit to the following paragraph about the first 911 systems in the U.S. in 1968 for consistency. 87.113.136.95 (talk) 20:44, 3 May 2012 (UTC)

French Polynesia emergency number

Hello. I am not familiar with adding the information since it is in a table format. I am happy to tell you now that for Tahiti - French Polynesia, the Fire is 18 and Police is 17. Thanks in advance who is kind enough to add this information on there. Flowright138 (talk) (contributions) 06:36, 21 June 2012 (UTC)

555 emergency number in Japan

Recently, I found out that Japan has another emergency number which is 555. Should that be added to this article or what? BrydoF1989 (talk) 19:13, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

911 in Australia

This page mentions that 911 is available as an alternative to 000 in Australia. I believe this is incorrect from reading the ACMA and other government websites: http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_1695 & http://www.triplezero.gov.au/Pages/Usingotheremergencynumbers.aspx. Can someone please amend if they confirm this is incorrect (obviously there is no way to confirm whether what the page says is accurate, but the explanation on the first citation seems to prove it's impossible). Jaw123 (talk) 22:57, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

Russia - Origin of 10* numbers

10* numbers (101-104) come from Soviet standard, with a 1 appended solely to accomodate for the need to type at least 3 digits. An alternate way in some regions (though may require a SIM card with funds) is to append a star after those. From soviet 01-09 set of emergency numbers:

• 01: Fire brigade
• 02: Police
• 03: Ambulance
• 04: Gas leaks
• 05: (sometimes?) Electricity
• 06-08: ?
• 09: Information (companies' lookup - such as phone number of a certain pharmacy)

This standard was created when pulse dial system was most common and most phones had a disc dialer.

08 is for reporting telephone line faults, and 07 I believe is for water/sewage issues. Spel-Punc-Gram (talk) 22:19, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

Suggestion: split off the country list

I propose to split the "Emergency numbers" section to a separate list-type article "List of emergency telephone numbers". The rationale is twofold: first, the topics is different, unrelated to the concept of an "emergency telephone number". Second, it is a different reader who will look up an emergency number in some foreign country to the one who is into technologies and the history of telecommunication.

If no serious objections are raised, I will proceed with the split some time in March. kashmiri ^TALK 22:30, 5 February 2015 (UTC)

I can see no point in having separate pages. Brian426uk (talk) 14:57, 16 February 2015 (UTC)