999 (emergency telephone number)
Emergency number in several countries
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Key Takeaways
- 999 is an official emergency telephone number in a number of countries and allows the caller to contact emergency services for assistance.
- All calls are answered by 999 operators and are always free.
- Emergency services In the United Kingdom there are four emergency services, which maintain full-time emergency control centres (ECC), to which 999 emergency calls may be routed direct by emergency operators in telephone company operator assistance centres (OAC).
999 is an official emergency telephone number in a number of countries and allows the caller to contact emergency services for assistance. Countries and territories using the number include Bahrain, Bangladesh, Botswana, the Cook Islands, Eswatini, Ghana, Guernsey, Hong Kong, the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Kenya, Macau, Malaysia, Mauritius, Niue, Poland, Qatar, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Trinidad and Tobago, Seychelles, Uganda, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and Zimbabwe.
United Kingdom
999 is the official emergency services number for the United Kingdom, but calls are also accepted on the European Union emergency number, 112. All calls are answered by 999 operators and are always free. Approximately 35 million 999/112 calls are made in the UK each year, with 74% from mobiles and 26% from landlines in 2022.
Emergency services
In the United Kingdom there are four emergency services, which maintain full-time emergency control centres (ECC), to which 999 emergency calls may be routed direct by emergency operators in telephone company operator assistance centres (OAC). These services are as follows, listed in the order of percentage of calls received:
- Ambulance
- Police
- Fire
- HM Coastguard
Other emergency services may also be reached through the 999 system but do not maintain permanent emergency control centres. All of these emergency services are summoned through the ECC of one of the four principal services listed above:
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