to teach dc 112 and not 999?

[MousyMouse]

112 is the emergency no in (most) of europe.
it's the number to call in case of the need of an ambulance/fire services/police when camping in france, sunlounging in barcelona or visiting berlin for a hen night.
so aibu?

I was also told that about 911 a few weeks back at a St John training session!

After googling it seems that mobile phones have a setting that if someone dials 911 it will automatically putt it through to 999/112. Also agree that the UK should have a big push with 112.

Teach him both, they're not long numbers are they.

Whatever you teach him make sure he knows only to call in a REAL emergency, and not to play around with the number.

My four year old grandson recently called 999, had a chat and put the phone down. We got a phone call back from a call handler asking if there was in fact an emergency. We of course read hi the riot act and went to great lengths explaining why he wasn't to do that. We thought we'd got through to him.

A couple of weeks later we were visited by two police officers as he had done the same thing again, but this time hadn't put the phone back down so they couldn't phone to check that all was ok.

He has been given another talk about using it appropriately, but I have now had to remove all the phones from the bedrooms just in case he does it again.

For what it's worth, he was taught 999 by nursery. There's not been any mention of any other number from him.

I think a mobile phone using GSM might well redirect 911 to 999 in the UK actually. I think one of the hidden features of these phones (since 911 and 112 were standardised as emergency numbers) is that they will recognise and redirect if you dial the wrong emergency number. If 112 works in the US on such a phone, I would not be at all surprised if these phones also redirect 911 in the UK.

If anyone seriously doubts this and has such a mobile phone, you could always try 911 and see what happens. My phone is definitely gsm and I don't dare because the operator would be upset with me, apology notwithstanding

Obviously 911 would never work on a UK landline telephone or a CDMA mobile either

everyone should change to 999 it's a much better number than 112 or 911.

I'm sure my friend who used to answer 999 calls said they could not pinpoint your position if you phoned from a mobile closer than to a few streets radius.

As a person who is currently on nights working my shift in a police control room I can absolutely guarantee that ringing 999 from your mobile will "pinpoint" a location. Neither 999 or 112 will give your "exact" location when phoning from a mobile. If you ring 999 and your phone disconnects your mobile can be traced to an area where the nearest mast is. The only way to find your exact location will be to perform a trace on the phone and this is only done by police forces in the most serious cases such as high risk missing persons!! 112, 911 and 999 will all connect to the operators in the 999 control rooms so best to teach 999 as this is the number that is widely advertised and easier to remember. Oh and of course 101 for non-emergency reports!!

I have never taught DC any of these numbers .
I've never called 999 in (or 911 for that matter) in my life, can't quite imagine ever needing to.
I think 111 is the medical care number? It is in the ambulance report (that I am supposed to be swotting up on right now instead of MN, about 1/3 of calls coming thru via 111).
Never heard of 112 before this thread (quick google): okay, I go to Europe about once every 10 yrs. Will try to remember for next time, if they haven't changed system by then.
All these numbers are too confusing to memorise. If I don't have time to look up the right non-urgent number then 999 is probably appropriate.

You can still dial 0 for operator to get put thru, too, whatever country you are in.

Thank you gooey head - brilliant to have the actual facts from a professional instead of all the silly urban myths!

Lljkk, 111 is the new number in some areas that replaces nhs direct and ooh doctors. It's for non-999 medical issues that aren't suitable for your GP or when your GP is shut. It's only just going live.