I certainly didn’t. This short film is well worth a watch, you may have to use it one day.

[video]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XPZv_8dABfU[/video]

i keep watching and waiting for the bit that was worth watching. the vid is now finished and i am still waiting.

only watch if your a remedial.

if your a remedial

only watch if your a remedial.

Oh teh ironing.

Edit: beaten to it! Curses!

FWIW You can ring 999 from any mobile and it will use whatever network is there, irrelevent of the mobile’s home network.

Top info, I for one wasn’t aware of that, cheers.

I knew. It was sort of at the back of my mind but it came to the front again when I tied to call extension 112 at work, without realising I was on an external line. Slightly odd conversation followed before I realised that I had a wrong number.

Also once my mobile (Nokia ‘brick’) rang 112 while it was locked – in a bum bag while on a m/c.

Seems that if you dialed 112 it overrode the ‘locked keys’.

If you dial 666 it summons Beelzebub

only watch if your a remedial.

Really?

In the US, 9-1-1 has been the universal emergency number for 40+ years. Per the video linked above, it says that the 1-1-2 will work in the US as well, at least from a cell phone.

If I was in an emergency, I’d probably dial 9-1-1 no matter where I was at. And people from 2-1-1 countries would instinctively dial that, even if they were in the US.

😆 hilarious. And complete BS.

To expand. There is no difference or priority between 999 and 112 calls in the UK. All mobile phones with keypad lock / PIN on them allow 999 as well as 112 (as well as 911). The emergencySMS service actually uses 999 officially although 112 works too. The cell towers all have spare capacity for emergency calls beyond normal voice calls (hence you sometimes see “emergency calls only” on your phone) and if there’s lots of people also calling 999 / 112 then you’re SOL. Ofcom apparently ensured a few years ago that you can roam across UK networks to make an emergency call, even if your own network is out of reach (subject of course to your phone working on that network’s frequency – almost all do now).

I think that just about covers it. Well-intentioned but variants of this 112 BS have been going around for at least a decade.

The phone is actually capable of making a 999 call without a sim card fitted but that facility is blocked by the networks in the UK.

112 works in Europe as well.

Didn’t watch the vid but (and this needs verifying)…

Apparently (was informed on a Red Cross First Aid Course) the benefit of 112 in the UK from a mobile is that it is quicker & easier to trace the call and pinpoint location! If your out in the hills and have an off this could be of paramount importance.

The phone is actually capable of making a 999 call without a sim card fitted but that facility is blocked by the networks in the UK.

Source? Struggling to believe that tbh.

Ianv, I heard that somewhere too…..

Hello. 20 years working in the technology team of a mobile operator here.

Simon_g is correct. I’m pretty sure SIM-free emergency calls were blocked due to abuse, they used to work.

112 and 999 route exactly the same in the switch. They will both pass through the location in the same way. Think about it – if the networks have the ability to pass through a location for 112, why wouldn’t they do it for the number that most people use, i.e. 999?

Yes, 112 works in Europe. In Czech there are 4 separate emergency numbers for fire, ambulance and 2 flavours of police, which I’d never remember.
Also, I’m told 112 will have English speaking operators everywhere, which is useful if you’re traveling and don’t speak the language.

Videos like this perpetuate a myth and make emergency situations more complex than they need to be.

Apparently (was informed on a Red Cross First Aid Course) the benefit of 112 in the UK from a mobile is that it is quicker & easier to trace the call and pinpoint location!

This was doing the rounds on Facebook recently with various people saying how “Awful it is that the networks don’t tell us this vital life saving information”

It is of course bollocks. Why would they get a GPS fix from 112 but not 999?

Apparently (was informed on a Red Cross First Aid Course) the benefit of 112 in the UK from a mobile is that it is quicker & easier to trace the call and pinpoint location

Also told this on an AA Drivetech course…..
Using 112 goes direct to the nearest regional call centre and they immediately know your exact location

Using 112 goes direct to the nearest regional call centre and they immediately know your exact location

and when you ring 999 from a mobile, it puts you through to the call room of the Police force area you are in. You don’t have to tell them where you are. Clever eh?

GrahamS & Kato, be my guest carry on calling 999 and dismiss this but its something to consider and there is obviously a reason we were explicitly told that its better than 999 for pin pointing location.

I’ll stick with 112 god forbid I ever need it for either myself or somebody else.

there is obviously a reason we were explicitly told that its better than 999 for pin pointing location
could it be that the person that told you was also a sucker for urban myths?

Celery.

Of course, there is a very simple way to test these claims. Though a complete waste of time, and very illegal.

Dial 999 from your mobile and then asking for the service will put you through to the nearest service for that area. 112 makes no difference what so ever.

GrahamS & Kato, be my guest carry on calling 999 and dismiss this but its something to consider and there is obviously a reason we were explicitly told that its better than 999 for pin pointing location.

Show me an official emergency services site that recommends calling 112 instead of 999.

Some quick googling…

The number 112 does work to connect to 999 in case European visitors use it in a hurry (it being their equivalent). You would still need reception on your mobile phone to be connected to an operator.

The 999 number should always be dialled in an emergency , when life is in danger, or a crime is in progress.

— http://www.dorset.police.uk/default.aspx?page=1417

You should always call 999 in a life-threatening emergency—if someone is seriously ill or injured, and their life is at risk.

— http://www.londonambulance.nhs.uk/calling_999.aspx

The 112 emergency services (ambulance, fire, police) can be called while travelling across the EU. Please remember to dial 999 while in England.

— http://www.cambsfire.gov.uk/incidents/6946.php

Clearly the emergency services all want us all to die and are withholding this vital information 🙄

Having watched the video in the link there is actually not a lot wrong with it. The guy states you should dial “112” on your mobile as this will work anywhere in the world (it’s part of the GSM standard, as well as a European directive). Good advice.

He then mentions he’s in the UK and gives some examples of dialling “112” in the UK. What he doesn’t say is if you are in the UK, you can also dial “999” and this works in EXACTLY the same way.

I assume this is because the message “dial 112” is a lot more succinct than “dial 112, or if you’d prefer dial an alternative local number if you know it, such as 999 in the UK, although that won’t work on a locked non-UK phone, so in that case you may still have to use 112”

The EU also provides plenty of information about “112”, including things like geolocation of mobile handsets etc. But again the EU does not publicise the option of “999” in the UK.

So the assumption people (incorrectly) jump to when they hear about “112” without any mention of “999” is that it must be something new and/or different to “999”. It’s not – in the UK it is exactly the same. And has been for almost 20 years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/999_(emergency_telephone_number) is a pretty good summary of the situation. While Wikipedia has it’s faults, it’s usually a better source than a Facebook status that ends with the phrase “make sure you pass this info on to everybody you know!”

“999” remains the official emergency number because it is known by just about everybody (compared to 13% who are aware of “112”) and changing it would introduce confusion. However, I know some fire engines (for example) have both numbers shown on the side, where previously they only showed “999”.

In a slightly seperate issue. I’m told that there is a smart phone app for sending a distress call of some sort to the mountain rescue bods. On it’s activation they then send an SMS to your phone and you respond via text. Once this is complete they can then track the location of your phone.

A point to note: If this is correct and you’re in a situation where a member of a group has been injured sufficiently badly to warrant calling out mountain rescue, if you need to leave the casualty for any reason, leave the phone that made the call with the casualty as that will be acting as a beacon to guide the rescue team to the casualty.

Hope this makes sense to everyone and if anyone’s interested I found a wee article about the service I mentioned above:

http://www.go4awalk.com/the-bunkhouse/walking-news-and-discussions/walking-news-and-discussions.php?news=710222

Christ, what happened to directing the Mtn rescue guys by grid reference, or can no one do that any more?

Fair point bland. But in a situation where someone is injured and possibly screaming in pain in your ear, chances are you’ll be flapping a bit so this reduces the possibility of human error.

Being located by your phone is not likely to be as useful in a remote area compared to in an urban area, as the masts your phone is picking up will be so much further apart meaning the search area will be fairly large. That said its better than no location data.

the other thing that’s worth knowing is http://www.emergencysms.org.uk/ originally devised for deaf people it requires you to register your phone first! well worth doing as often an SMS message will trickle out when there may not be a good enough to have a lengthy conversation.

I received a new phone on Friday powering it up with no SIM in it still allowed 999 calls.

Just for reference.

“make sure you pass this info on to everybody you know!”

its like a suffix for utter bollocks!

I received a new phone on Friday powering it up with no SIM in it still allowed 999 calls.

Hmmm interesting. The Red Cross site says:

Some people think that 999 calls can be made from a phone without a SIM. In fact, because of the high number of hoax calls, the United Kingdom decided to block emergency calls from mobile phones without a SIM card.

— http://www.redcross.org.uk/What-we-do/Teaching-resources/Quick-activities/999

I’d guess it is either handset/network dependent or only kicks in when you dial the number.

Or they’re wrong.

Or they’re wrong.

Possibly. You’d hope the Red Cross would get it right. Does seem to be a lot of conflicting info out there though. A post on the “Police Specials” forum says:

Access to the 112/999 system is blocked in the UK for phones without a SIM. I’m afraid you’ve fallen for a myth (kind of). You do need a SIM card.

The phone may well say “Emergency calls only” when there’s no SIM in it, but that’s a feature in the phones software, the actual call is blocked at a network level in the UK, so will not connect.

SIM’less calls were fully blocked in 2009, when emergency call roaming was finally fully introduced.

— http://www.policespecials.com/forum/index.php?/topic/134526-bbc;tayside-officer-calls-for-999-callers-to-be-charged-50p/

Wikipedia says:

Originally a valid SIM card was not required to make a 999/112 emergency call in the UK. However, as a result of high numbers of untraceable hoax calls being made, this feature is now blocked by all UK networks. Most UK mobile telephone handsets will dial 999/112 without a SIM inserted (or with a locked/invalid SIM), but the call will not be connected. Following the blocking of SIM-less calls, in 2009 the UK networks introduced emergency call roaming.
— http://en.newikipedia.org/wiki/999_(emergency_telephone_number)

But both are light on sources.

Possibly. You’d hope the Red Cross would get it right. Does seem to be a lot of conflicting info out there though. A post on the “Police Specials” forum says:

Why don’t you try it? pop the SIM out and give it a go

They won’t mind 🙂

Preparing my old phone for selling with no sim in and it says Emergency calls. Of course it could be it can’t connect, I’m not sold on the hoax calls thing PAYG will be just as bad so seems pointless.