How to make an emergency call

[skyhuck]

999, 112, 911 will all get you to an operator in this country.

 

I know, but why make one superior???

 

Would it not be better if they all went though to 112 with its supposed advantages??

[morten]

Its worth knowing but make sure you register

 

 

Even though 112 is the universal emergency service number in 70 countries, I believe the text message registration (sending "REGISTER" to 112), only works in few countries, possibly UK-only. At least it does not work in Denmark/Sweden, failing with a "Not delivered" message.

 

So don't count on the service being available in countries where you have not registered.

[morten]

Ain't it weird that back when they came up with 999 it was the slowest possible you could dial

 

In the good'ol days, Denmark used 000 for emergency services. Even slower than 999 on the old rotary dial phones.

 

I believe 999/000 was used to minmise the risk of accidentially calling emergency services when a faulty connection/wire caused short disconnects (which is the way the old rotary dial phone performed the dialling). See Rotary dial - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for details.

 

I am happy that the 112 code has been universally adopted by that many countries. Saves lives. Oh, and the reason for the number not being, say 111, is that on pushbutton phones, that would increase the risk of accidentally dialing a number (pressing the same number repeatedly).

Edited March 10, 2013 by morten

[skyhuck]

In the good'ol days, Denmark used 000 for emergency services. Even slower than 999 on the old rotary dial phones.

 

I believe 999/000 was used to minmise the risk of accidentially calling emergency services when a faulty connection/wire caused short disconnects (which is the way the old rotary dial phone performed the dialling). See Rotary dial - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for details.

 

interesting

[likeitorlumpit]

Ain't it weird that back when they came up with 999 it was the slowest possible you could dial

 

Thats exactly what I thought.

[nepia]

Would it not be better if they all went though to 112 with its supposed advantages??

 

Well they do all divert to the same place!

 

But if you're asking 'wouldn't it be better just to use 112?'... one day, one day...

[morten]

I don't think so. The 112 service knows where you are by measuring your signal between the telephone masts.

 

When you own a Tomtom car navigation you should use that one too. When you press their emergency button you get the exact location or even the longitude and latitude numbers.

 

True. Emergency services get an approximate location of a cellphone by signal strength triangulation from the nearby transmission masts. In rural areas where only one mast has contact, this triangulation doesn't work (obviously) and location can only be determined to within a few miles from the mast serving the call.

[Lukey-Loki]

True. Emergency services get an approximate location of a cellphone by signal strength triangulation from the nearby transmission masts. In rural areas where only one mast has contact, this triangulation doesn't work (obviously) and location can only be determined to within a few miles from the mast serving the call.

 

I see.

[agrimog]

999 goes back to the days of analouge phone exchanges, gave the breakers in the exchanges time to lock in and less chance of a missdialed no. It doesnt matter which no. you use, as a chainsaw operator you should have a note of your exact location on your risk assesment that you "did" for the job, and if your in a remote locatiob, you should have the map ref for your helivac,just in case, just remember minutes matter with a major incident