The Student Room Group

Ever had to call 999?

Or 911 etc whatever applies to you

I was in the shower earlier having a think about life as you do, and it dawned on me that I've never had to call 999. I was just wondering if anyone else had to, and of so what for?


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No, but I have had to call Canadian local police over a calling card. Long story.
Reply 2
Yes, I won't say for what but basically the operator says who do you want : police, ambulance, fire.

so you say which,

then they connect you to the e.g. police so you wait, you tell them your name, birth, addr,
what the situation is.

so it's not an immediate connection to help, you have to wait for a while before you get connected to the right person, whilst in a panic.

It might be worth knowing the number of the local police station, or the crime stoppers service

http://www.crimestoppers-uk.org/giving-information/how-to-give-information
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 3
Original post by Tim2341
Yes, I won't say for what but basically the operator says who do you want : police, ambulance, fire.

so you say which,

then they connect you to the e.g. police so you wait, you tell them your name, birth, addr,
what the situation is.

so it's not an immediate connection to help, you have to wait for a while before you get connected to the right person, whilst in a panic.

It might be worth knowing the number of the local police station, or the crime stoppers service

http://www.crimestoppers-uk.org/giving-information/how-to-give-information


All sounds a bit too slow for my liking.

But what happens if there's a car accident requiring all 3 services? Who do you ask for then?
I once called 999 (from a neighbour's house, just to be safe) when I accidentally set my oven on fire. It was a pretty straightforward process, I just asked for the fire brigade and then the local fire brigade were there in just a few minutes.
Reply 5
Was at a house party when someone fell down the stairs and passed out. I got someone else to phone 999, but they were too panicked to speak. Luckily I only had 2 bottles of beer so could control everyone, talk to the phone operating whilst putting the person in the recovery position whilst stopping him from puking.

They're really friendly. I felt sort of embarrassed because it was a house party, felt like we were wasting their time a bit. But did have an unconscious 'friend' who was puking whilst unconscious, so it had to be done.
Reply 6
Not anything serious but when I was little - probably under 5, I was at my grans house and was playing with her phone (I was told all this, but I do remember punching in numbers allllll the time like 111 333 etc etc) ended up phoning 999 and when she came back in from hanging out the clothes she was slightly told off :colondollar:
Reply 7
Yeah once for a serious reason, won't go into it here.
They were very helpful and arrived in minutes, the girl stayed on the phone with me until they arrived.

One time though apparently when I was around 3 years old I called the police once because I thought someone had stolen my stone from my garden that I'd painted a face on.
I ran in the house, called 999 and cried down the phone 'Someone has stole Mrs Stone!!'
My dad had to grab the phone and apologize haha.

Such a cool kid :P
I had to call 999 a few years ago at a party. My friend drunk several bottles of spirits and ended up totally paralytic. We couldn't wake him up, he kept vomitting, his breathing and heart rate were all over the place. The doctors told him that if we'd left it much longer to call 999 he may well have died. It was really easy though, you just ask for an Ambulance and then answer all of their questions as well as you can and that's it. The worst thing is sitting there waiting for the ambulance, having no idea if your mate is going to be alright.
Reply 9
Original post by Starfisher
All sounds a bit too slow for my liking.

But what happens if there's a car accident requiring all 3 services? Who do you ask for then?


you would probably just tell the operator that theres been a car accident and they'd give you advice on what to do.
Twice.

Both times I was useless though.
Reply 11
A few times. Twice for an ambulance and once for the Police. Always been really professional and help arrived really quickly. Wonderful job our emergency services do!
Reply 12
Original post by Starfisher
All sounds a bit too slow for my liking.

But what happens if there's a car accident requiring all 3 services? Who do you ask for then?


From reading the other comments, everybody else had quite an easy process, my felt 'ages'.

Not sure on that point, suppose the ambulance is the most important thing, the ambulance or emergency dispatcher operator person would probably call for back-up if you're giving them minimal information under the circumstances.
Reply 13
Yes. We were on a canal boat for my aunt's birthday and she just startd having a fit so we had to call them. We only had to wait about 10mins, but that may be because we were close to a motorway. :rolleyes:
Most people I know have never called the police :s-smilie:
I've called them about 6 times? And once I called that local police number

Very helpful


Posted from TSR Mobile
Reply 15
Yeah, I was walking down the road near my house and a car came around the corner and flipped on to its roof so I called an ambulance, which arrived within minutes. The car was probably about 10 - 20 feet away from hitting me. It was a pretty surreal experience.

Then had to call the local police to give a telephone statement.

PS the lad in the car was ok.
Reply 16
Once when I was 9 i went to my local REC center and was waiting for a bunch o people to come out. Meanwhile, to pass time, I decided to pretend I was a cop. Went and typed 911 in payphne. No one told me it was toll free ):
They then asked if i did it and I said no
Took me 4 more years to realize it was tollfree and it was me
Reply 17
Once when I was about 10. My mum had an epileptic fit, but a) because I was young, and b) because she hadn't discussed the condition and I hadn't heard of it at that time, I was really scared it was something very serious, so I phoned 999 and asked for an ambulance.

She'd re-gained consciousness by the time the ambulance arrived, but was still in that confused state. Was a distressing situation all round.
If you call from a mobile can they find your location?

I've always wondered what would happen if I don't know where I am if I had to call 999. "Errm, I'm by a long road with fields either side..."
Reply 19
Yeah.

>couldn't urinate

>writhing around in pain

>bladder about to blow

>mum calls ambulance

>they refuse to come saying it's not urgent enough

>mum was like "he's on the floor screaming in pain, how's he supposed to get a bus to A&E?"

>they eventually compromise and send a taxi

>jews.jpg

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