Emergency Cards EN-GB

United Kingdom

Emergency numbers

Reviewed

Use at your own risk. Educational and research use only, not medical advice. Verify numbers and rules for the country you are in. They change. Before you rely on these cards in practice, review them with a medical professional or a fire safety specialist. Disclaimer

Do this first

Dial 999. It is free from any phone, including a locked one, and 112 reaches the same operators.

999 connects police, fire, ambulance and coastguard across the United Kingdom. The call handler decides which service responds, so you do not need to know which one you need. For urgent medical problems that are not life-threatening, NHS 111 is the right door.

Step by step

  1. Say where you are first. Street and number, town, a landmark, or the location your phone shows.
  2. Say what happened in one sentence. A fall, a fire, a crash, chest pain.
  3. Say how many people are hurt and whether anyone is unconscious or not breathing.
  4. Give your phone number so they can call back if the line drops.
  5. Do not hang up. The call handler tells you when the call is finished.
  6. Follow the instructions exactly, including chest compressions if you are asked to start them.
  7. Send someone to the street to wave the ambulance in, and unlock doors and gates.

Never do this

  • Do not hang up before the call handler says you can.
  • Do not use 999 for problems that can wait. NHS 111 handles urgent medical advice, 101 the non-emergency police.
  • Do not assume somebody else has already called. Ask out loud and confirm it.

Call emergency services if

  • Someone is unconscious, breathing abnormally, or not breathing at all.
  • Chest pain, sudden weakness on one side, sudden confusion or trouble speaking.
  • Bleeding that soaks through dressings, a serious fall, a fire, or a crash.

Common questions

Does 999 work without credit or signal from my own network?

Yes. 999 and 112 connect from a locked phone with no credit, and the call will use any available network, not just your own. If you cannot speak safely, stay on the line and follow the Silent Solution: press 55 when prompted on a mobile.

What if I cannot hear or speak?

Register for emergencySMS in advance by texting the word register to 999 and following the reply. After that you can reach 999 by text message anywhere in the UK.

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Sources and standards

Use at your own risk. Educational and research use only, not medical advice. Verify numbers and rules for the country you are in. They change. Before you rely on these cards in practice, review them with a medical professional or a fire safety specialist.