Mono Monday 405 :: MM405 :: Inventions

Emergency Calls or as I knew them when responding to them 'Emercalls'. 

The first emergency call system set up was 999 in central London on the 30th June 1937. It was in response to a house fire the previous November that killed 5 women. A call for the fire brigade had been placed on hold by a busy switchboard... 

After the war other cities across the UK adopted the free dedicated system but it wasn't until 1976, the year I joined the police, that the system was able to be used nationwide. Mobiles gained free access in 1986. 

The numbers 999 were chosen because it would not connect the caller to other exchanges , ie 111 was the Abbey exchange as would dialling 000 connect you to the operator after the first 0. It was deemed easier to find 9 when in a rush or couldn't see the dial. 

In the early days there were about 8000 calls a month, mostly for the police. Today there are 3 police control centres in London taking millions of calls each year just for the city. 

We are not alone in using 999 around the world but we now can use the European emergency number 112. 

Worldwide emergency numbers*:

000 = Australia 
111 = New Zealand
112 = Europe & GSM Mobiles worldwide.
119 = Jamaica & some of Asia
911 = North America
999 = Bahrain, Bangladesh, Botswana, Eswatini, Ghana, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Ireland, Isle of Man, Jersey, Kenya, Macau, Malaysia, Mauritius, Poland, Qatar, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Trinidad and Tobago, Seychelles, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and Zimbabwe.


* Please check & know your local numbers, especially if you travel. ;o)