Please register for the emergency services SMS service - it could save your life

[WellThisIsShit]

Please please, if you are in a volatile or abusive relationship, being able to text the police in an emergency could save your life, or your children’s lives... however it only works if you’ve pre-registered your mobile number.

We see it on the Relationship threads all the time. Someone ends up in a desperate situation where they are very shaken up and scared after their partner has hurt them or threatened them, and they are scared for their safety. It’s usually late at night and the poster is usually too scared to make a noise though can write messages /text from their phone, maybe from the bathroom.

That’s when they tend to get advice from well meaning posters telling them they can SMS 999 from their phone and the police will come... except it doesn’t work unless you have registered your phone number!!!

Which is utterly terrifying, imagine being desperate enough to need to text the police (or ambulance) silently as you cannot speak, ... and no help arrives.

So please please text 999 now with the word ‘register’. You get an automated text back with t&c’s and a bit more info. After you’ve read that you text back YES and when you’ve had a confirmation text, you’re all signed up and done. That’s it.

It is easy and quick to register. And then you are able to text the emergency services if you ever need to on that phone number.

Do it even if you don’t tho k you need to, because no one knows what could happen in the future, and when it could come in handy, for literally 20 seconds of your time now.

This is a thread prompted by another thread/s, but it’s in a positive way I hope, and not about that other thread, if you see what I mean?

Thanks OP!

Two things to remember about the service:

Ringing is still usually the best and quickest way to get help. Only use the text service if it is too dangerous to ring - for example, because being heard using the phone could alert an abuser and potentially put you at increased risk.

If you are in a situation where you need to use the service, it might be necessary to mute keypad, outgoing and incoming text alert sound, which could also alert an abuser to you using the phone.

@Grandadwasthatyou

Ok, I’ve just gone back to check what I did to get my phone to text to 999 and did indeed type in the content of the text first but that wasn’t actually what made it work, oops! Sorry, I’m brain dead this morning!

So here it is again properly, with screenshot:

I typed in 999 then pressed the little + sign in the right hand corner. That’s actually to add another person/contact to the text, but it also has the effect of making your phone realise ‘999’ is complete and it’s not waiting for more numbers to finish it off.

1. Press 999 into your text To box
2. Press + (which takes you to your contact book)
3. Then Cancel (which takes you back to the text)

Now your text should be showing 999 as a complete number and you’re ready to finish the text: write ‘register’ & press send...

Here’s a screenshot with the + on the top right hand side, just across from the To:

@WellThisIsShit .. I was just wondering what I was doing wrong as I had just tried your recommended method and it still wasn't working. Then I got your second message and followed instructions, mission successful. Thank you.

@BBInGinDrinking yes absolutely, really good points

I hadn’t thought of the texts beeping and making a noise that way.

On the description of how the service works it says that the emergency services will text you back so yes this is super important!

@Grandadwasthatyou oh good, I was half asleep earlier I think... possibly still am

Bringing... I remember watching a film where a girl was hiding in the cupboard whilst an intruder was looking for her. She had called 911 and they then rang her back, which unfortunately the intruder heard so knew where she was.

That was directed at Bbingin not Bringing ( auto correct!)

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Bump

Thank you everyone for bumping.

Hi there everyone,

Thanks so much for reporting this thread to MNHQ to see if we can promote it - we're getting in touch with some domestic violence organisations to see what they think of the service before we take any action.

Great news! Thanks Anya.

Thanks very much for getting back to us, and taking much a sensible and proactive course of action.

As it says on the service itself, calling the emergency services is always the best option if possible, but when it’s not possible, that’s when this service comes in.

What’s absolutely not ever going to be helpful is well meaning posters giving out incorrect and potentially dangerous advice to scared women who may be in very vulnerable situations. Rumors and arguments going back and forth in the heat of the moment about texts, or dialing certain combinations then coughing twice and all that stuff... it’s well meaning but so terribly awful if someone was relying on this info to get help or get safe.

Bump

Thank you so very much!! I wasn’t aware of this. I’m OLD’ing and this is a great precautionary measure on top of all the other safe measures I’m taking.

This is really for the visually impaired and if everyone registered it would overwhelm the system.

If you can dial 999 do that instead.

I've done it because I've form for choking. It might be too late but at least I have an option to summon help if I can't speak.

People have used it successfully in terrorist attacks as well

Yes, that's right - also in hostage situations - again, like DV, both situations where it would be risky or impossible to dial 999 without alerting the terrorist or hostage taker.

Just to clarify a point made by a pp.

The text service is often invaluable to people with certain disabilities such as with sight or hearing and is more commonly used in that situation, yes.

However it is also invaluable to those in severe DV, terrorism and hostage situations, where it is impossible or too risky to dial 999.

This service is not for everyone to use every day instead of dialing 999. Dialing 999 will usually summon help more quickly. It is for the small but significant number of people who can not dial 999 because of disability, or immediate significant danger where dialing 999 would not be safe.

And remember, text notifications should be on mute.

Bump

Thank you for this, all registered now