# Emergency number



## Whodunit

Hi,

I think it's obvious that an emergency number has to be very easy to remember and call, hasn't it?

In Germany, we use 110 or 112 to call the police, ambulance, or fire brigade. And in Great Britain it's much easier: 999 to get through to/with all of these. But in the US you had to call 911; two different numbers are also easy to remember.

And your replies are appreciated: What emegency number does your country have? And are there any more in the US/UK you can remember?


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## belén

In Spain it is 112

I think it is a European initiative that all EU countries have the 112 .
Actually, I saw a report about it on TV.


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## Whodunit

But Great Britain is also in Europe and it hasn't got this 112. An exception?


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## lsp

Italy has 113 for Emergency Public Aid, but also:
Carabinieri - an Italian military corps of the gendarmerie type with police functions.)..112
Fire..115
etc.
What a great idea it would be if this were standardized!


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## belén

whodunit said:
			
		

> But Great Britain is also in Europe and it hasn't got this 112. An exception?



Well, it is an initiative, sorry I didn't explain myself better. From what I know it is in "working progress". 
And yes, I agree, it would be great to have the emergency number standarized throughout the world.


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## sugarcremepuff

i really haven't mind these emergency #'s... i think in the philippines its 211, but i aint quite sure about that either; that is just i think for mobile phones/cellphones but we do have other #'s as well; i really have to look at it.... i really do agree that there should be a standard emergency #'s to be used by everyone so that it's easier to remember....


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## Artrella

Hi Who!  In Argentina it is the 101 (Comando Radioélectrico _ Polizei)


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## EVAVIGIL

whodunit said:
			
		

> But Great Britain is also in Europe and it hasn't got this 112. An exception?



Most British people wouldn't agree with this, Whodunit! They keep talking about "WE" (Great Britain) and "Europe".  

Cheers.

EVA.


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## lauranazario

In Puerto Rico we have also adopted "911" as the number to call in case of emergencies. 
This number is connected to a main "command center" that distrubutes calls to different government agencies: medical emergencies (paramedics); police dept.; fire dept.; disaster management agency; emergency social/family services.

Saludos,
LN


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## Benjy

just to point out that both 999 and 112 work in good old GB =]


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## Whodunit

lsp said:
			
		

> Italy has 113 for Emergency Public Aid, but also:
> Carabinieri - an Italian military corps of the gendarmerie type with police functions.)..112
> Fire..115
> etc.
> What a great idea it would be if this were standardized!



Yes, actually, it would be a great idea. So you could remember easier - but I think that's the same as in languages: The dissimilarity is the funny thing why it's worth learning it. Okay, you can't really learn an emergency number, but it is interesting that there're so many different ones.

Another question: Why do they use three digits? Two would be easier.


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## Whodunit

Benjy said:
			
		

> just to point out that both 999 and 112 work in good old GB =]



Is there a preference by people? What number would YOU use? In Germany, we also have two numbers, and I prefer the 110 for calling the police department and 112 for fire brigade. But as far as I know, the officila one is 112.


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## Benjy

whodunit said:
			
		

> Is there a preference by people? What number would YOU use? In Germany, we also have two numbers, and I prefer the 110 for calling the police department and 112 for fire brigade. But as far as I know, the officila one is 112.


999, without even thinking. i think there is actually a whole system of mumbers..  for the various services, i just don't know what it is.


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## Mr X

In Australia the emergency number is 000. Very easy to remember!

Mr X.


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## te gato

hello all;

In Alberta..911 and it is used for everything...
te gato


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## mirandolina

Also 118 if you have to call an Ambulance!
And 116 for the ACI (Automobile Club) if your car breaks down and you need assistance...




			
				lsp said:
			
		

> Italy has 113 for Emergency Public Aid, but also:
> Carabinieri - an Italian military corps of the gendarmerie type with police functions.)..112
> Fire..115
> etc.
> What a great idea it would be if this were standardized!


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## gaer

Mr X said:
			
		

> In Australia the emergency number is 000. Very easy to remember!
> 
> Mr X.


Wow, that makes sense!!!


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## cuchuflete

000 or OOO?


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## Outsider

112 (It used to be 115.)


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## Whodunit

Mr X said:
			
		

> In Australia the emergency number is 000. Very easy to remember!
> 
> Mr X.



Really funny.



			
				cuchuflete said:
			
		

> 000 or OOO?



Ha ha! How do you want to enter OOO on a phone?


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## Benjy

whodunit said:
			
		

> Really funny.
> 
> 
> 
> Ha ha! How do you want to enter OOO on a phone?



you dial 666 lol


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## charlie2

Benjy said:
			
		

> 999, without even thinking. i think there is actually a whole system of mumbers..  for the various services, i just don't know what it is.


999 is the emergency number in Hong Kong. There is a 999 control centre for screening the calls and arranging for the various services.


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## Whodunit

Benjy said:
			
		

> you dial 666 lol



This will only work with a mobile. An old telephone with a receiver where you couldn't store any numbers yet hadn't got letters, so 666 wouldn't have been OOO, would it?


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## Benjy

whodunit said:
			
		

> This will only work with a mobile. An old telephone with a receiver where you couldn't store any numbers yet hadn't got letters, so 666 wouldn't have been OOO, would it?



lol.. on most phones that i have seen, there has always been the system of writting letter on the keybad. admittedly before the advent of the mobile this wasn't much used but in the states you can see stuff like call 1-800-123-PIZZA or something.. thats what i meant. (which of course would be 1 800 123 74992)


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## belén

actually "OOO" would be "666 666 666 " right? 
Oh no, that would be sending an sms! lol!!


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## Whodunit

Benjy said:
			
		

> lol.. on most phones that i have seen, there has always been the system of writting letter on the keybad. admittedly before the advent of the mobile this wasn't much used but in the states you can see stuff like call 1-800-123-PIZZA or something.. thats what i meant. (which of course would be 1 800 123 74992)



Ah I see, in Germany we also had an advertisement with "Dial KUPPLUNG (clutch) to get to an espacial car components shop etc." That would be number 52115264, right?

But I think - to come back to the topic - an emegency number wouldn't be founded on such a sophisticated system.


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## gaer

Benjy said:
			
		

> you dial 666 lol


I was thinking the same thing.


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## Mr X

cuchuflete said:
			
		

> 000 or OOO?



Well, when you say it, it's OOO, but if you ever have to ring it, it magically changes to 000.  

I think we're just too lazy to actually say 'triple zero.' 'Triple oh' is so much quicker!


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## Outsider

'Oh' is one of the possible ways to read the figure '0'.


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## EVAVIGIL

belen said:
			
		

> actually "OOO" would be "666 666 666 " right?
> Oh no, that would be sending an sms! lol!!



Sorry, but what does "lol" mean?  
EVA.


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## belén

EVAVIGIL said:
			
		

> Sorry, but what does "lol" mean?
> EVA.




Laughing out loud


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## EVAVIGIL

Thanks, Belén!
Live to learn!
EVA.


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## Словеса

Russia, most known emergency numbers.
Previously:
01 - fire-brigade;
02 - militia;
03 - ambulance;
04 - gas emergency.
Then, 01 acquired the sense "general emergency" as well.
This worked (and still works) only on stationary phones. Mobile phones had different numbers for emergency. Now the change is taking place that unifies mobile phone numbers and desk phone numbers. Particularly, those four numbers acquire "one"s in their beginnings: 101, 102, 103, 104. There are also other numbers, less well-known. This system is in action only in big cities by now, I guess.


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## arielipi

Israel:
100 police
101 MDA (magen david adom)
102 firefighters
103 electricity company
104 home front command
106 - 109 city services
112 general emergency service
142 the called will pay for the call (i only know it being done on street phones)
144 yellow pages service
1220 ZAKA (Disaster Victim Identification) - used after terrorist attacks and whatnot.
1221 rescue/saving united org
1255 information services at emergency events/times.

basically what one would normally use is 100 - 103,  106 - 109, 144.
those in risky areas would also use 104 112.
there is also the rescue squad of the idf and they also have a number.


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## franknagy

If you call the old 104 of emergency, 105 of fire brigade and 107 of police in Hungary then you have much more chance to survive than if you call the new centralized 112 because of

the delay passing your call to the proper organization, 
the incompetence of the personnel receiving the calls.


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## Hakro

Today in Finland it's always 112.

A few years ago there were different emergency numbers for the police, fire brigade, etc.


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## franknagy

belén said:


> In Spain it is 112
> 
> I think it is a European initiative that all EU countries have the 112 .
> Actually, I saw a report about it on TV.


As I have written in my previous the EU-112 had been introduced in Hungary, too. 
_The unified number is a good idea, indeed, but is was introduced in Hungary without spending money on communication and adequate personnel. _


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## atcheque

Bonjour,

In France:
15 : Ambulance
17 : Police
18 : Fire brigade
112 : any emergency, especially for cell phones.

In Czech:
150: Fire brigade
155: Ambulance
158: Police
112: any emergency, especially for cell phones.


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## JamesM

Whodunit said:


> This will only work with a mobile. An old telephone with a receiver where you couldn't store any numbers yet hadn't got letters, so 666 wouldn't have been OOO, would it?



It could just as easily have been MOM or MOO.    Each number from 2 through 9 had three (or four) letters assigned to it.   The number 6 had M, N, and O.  People spelled words with different letters even when the numbers repeated.


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## OneStroke

999 in Hong Kong, certainly. There's another that starts with 1, but I can't remember it.


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## Nipnip

066 in Mexico, dialing 911 will get you through in some locations.


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## Radioh

lsp said:


> Italy has 113 for Emergency Public Aid, but also:
> Carabinieri - an Italian military corps of the gendarmerie type with police functions.)..112
> Fire..115
> etc.
> What a great idea it would be if this were standardized!



We have 113 as an emergency number, too. Dial 113 if you want to call the police; 114 to call fire brigades; and 115 to call ambulances.


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## Sepia

Whodunit said:


> But Great Britain is also in Europe and it hasn't got this 112. An exception?




They must have - it is to my knowledge at  the least an EU regulation and every gsm-phone has the number in the firmware so that you can reach emergency services even without a SIM-card or with an account that does not allow international roaming.

Almost every country also have other additional emergency numbers. In Spain I will reach an emergency dispatcher on 112, but if I know for sure whether I want to call the Policia Nacional, Policia Local or Guardia Civil there are extra numbers for that.

And in Denmark they even have a special number for environmental emergencies - I think it is 114.


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## Minnie121728

Whodunit said:


> Hi,
> 
> I think it's obvious that an emergency number has to be very easy to remember and call, hasn't it?
> 
> In Germany, we use 110 or 112 to call the police, ambulance, or fire brigade. And in Great Britain it's much easier: 999 to get through to/with all of these. But in the US you had to call 911; two different numbers are also easy to remember.
> 
> And your replies are appreciated: What emegency number does your country have? And are there any more in the US/UK you can remember?



 We are introducing 911 too in Dominican Republic, for all these services; ambulance, police, firefighters, etc.-


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## JamesM

Whodunit said:


> Ah I see, in Germany we also had an advertisement with "Dial KUPPLUNG (clutch) to get to an espacial car components shop etc." That would be number 52115264, right?



I don't think so.  That would be 58775864, at least on American phones.  I assume the letter assignment to each key is international.


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## Stoggler

Whodunit said:


> But Great Britain is also in Europe and it hasn't got this 112. An exception?



We have 112 in the UK as well as 999 (whichever number you dial puts you through to the same place)


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## Pedro y La Torre

Stoggler said:


> We have 112 in the UK as well as 999 (whichever number you dial puts you through to the same place)



Ireland is exactly the same (shocking I know!).


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## Stéphane89

In Belgium, we have 112. But I think the old numbers still exist, like 101 for the police and 100 for an ambulance (I think...). In my opinion, having several numbers makes it confusing.


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## Sepia

StefKE said:


> In Belgium, we have 112. But I think the old numbers still exist, like 101 for the police and 100 for an ambulance (I think...). In my opinion, having several numbers makes it confusing.



Waht is confusing about using the cover-it-all 112? Nobody says you need to use the others.


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## Kaxgufen

El 107, emergencias médicas.
El 106, emergencias náuticas.
El 100, los bomberos.
Y está el 911 (Policía) que también centraliza los otros llamados. 

Por ejemplo si hay un incendio se puede llamar al 100, pero si hay un incendio y un quemado, deberíamos llamar al 100 y al 107, entonces se llama al 911 y ellos distribuyen los pedidos.
El 911 se instauró tiempo después del tema de las torres y nos hicieron creer que en todo el mundo era lo mismo.


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## apmoy70

In Greece its:
100 for Police Immediate Response
108 for Port Police-Coast Guard
109 for Counter Narcotics Police Unit
170 for Counter Terrorism Police Unit
171 for Tourist Police
166 for Ambulance or Medical Emergency
199 for Firefighters


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## Hulalessar

112 is in use throughout the EU and is also used elsewhere. If everyone has the same number there is no problem when travelling abroad. Most (?all) countries using 112 have retained their historic emergency number. That obviously makes sure those who have not heard about the change (or forgotten it - quite likely in an emergency) still get out through. 

999 was chosen in Britain to enable free calls from telephone boxes. The phones could more easily be configured to allow dialling 9 and 0 without prepaying. 999 was used rather than 000 because 0 was used to dial the operator. 999 also had the benefit that (compared to 111) it was not easily dialled accidentally, whether from a phone or by the wind or birds jiggling overhead telephone wires.


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## rur1920

Sepia said:


> Waht is confusing about using the cover-it-all 112? Nobody says you need to use the others.


That the same office is reached in two ways is confusing to the mind, because it cannot figure out whether it is true but feels it needs to. In case of an emergency, one has to think of this confusion and possibly lose time on deciding with oneself why this situation arose. We all become rather silly, I think, when we become nervous and have to act quickly.


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## Stoggler

apmoy70 said:


> In Greece its:
> 100 for Police Immediate Response
> 108 for Port Police-Coast Guard
> 109 for Counter Narcotics Police Unit
> 170 for Counter Terrorism Police Unit
> 171 for Tourist Police
> 166 for Ambulance or Medical Emergency
> 199 for Firefighters



Do you know all of those off by heart, or did you have to look some of them up?  Doesn't having lots of different numbers make it more difficult to remember them all, and trying to remember the right one in an emergency when you're not perhaps thinking straight is less likely.


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## xmarabout

"112 is the European emergency phone number, available everywhere in the EU, free of charge.

It  is possible to call 112 from fixed and mobile phones to contact any  emergency service: an ambulance, the fire brigade or the police."
_From the official website of EU (28 member states)._
But some members states still have other numbers, together with 112, like GB (999) or for more specific services (in Belgium: 100 for the police only, 101 for ambulance and fire, ...). You have a nice list on wikipedia.


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## Sepia

rur1920 said:


> That the same office is reached in two ways is confusing to the mind, because it cannot figure out whether it is true but feels it needs to. In case of an emergency, one has to think of this confusion and possibly lose time on deciding with oneself why this situation arose. We all become rather silly, I think, when we become nervous and have to act quickly.



Well if you are not autistic, what is the problem with blocking out the others and dialing 112? 

I mean, in Spain I would in most cases use that too even if I remember the numbers of the three types of police I can call there - Polícía Local, Guardia Civil and Polícía Nacional. I mean OK, if it is about a traffic accident within city limits I know I should call the Polícía Local. But if I see a fight starting between alleged illegal immigrants over a drug deal basically all three will eventually be involved in the case - and I surely do not want to decide who should send officers to clear the situation. So I call 112. What else should I do?

Besides, you do not get the same office - you get a dispatcher who passes on information to whoever is in charge - and as far as I know the 112 agents (in the EU) should be multilingual.



Stoggler said:


> Do you know all of those off by heart, or did you have to look some of them up? Doesn't having lots of different numbers make it more difficult to remember them all, and trying to remember the right one in an emergency when you're not perhaps thinking straight is less likely.




Yeah, strange isn't it. And even if I know them by heart except for Ambulance and Fire Brigade, chances are that I call the wrong number anyway. Like, I am sitting on the beach with my camera zoom in on a yacht and see crew members handling AKs and rocket launchers. Who should I call - Coast Guard or Counter Terrorism Police?


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## rur1920

Sepia said:


> Well if you are not autistic, what is the problem with blocking out the others and dialing 112?


If everyone knows for sure that they can (read: if the logic behind this system is taught to all children since early childhood), then no problem at all. Provided I don't have to explain my problem twice (you don't know beforehand which factor turns out to be important in emergency).


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## Sepia

rur1920 said:


> If everyone knows for sure that they can (read: if the logic behind this system is taught to all children since early childhood), then no problem at all. Provided I don't have to explain my problem twice (you don't know beforehand which factor turns out to be important in emergency).



That should normally not be a problem because the agent you are talking with is already passing on the most important information to a different agent, while still talking to you. So if it is clear that an accident has happened and you have told where, wheels may already be rolling while you are still talking. - At least that is the way it is organized where they are not complete idiots.


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## apmoy70

Stoggler said:


> Do you know all of those off by heart, or did you have to look some of them up?  Doesn't having lots of different numbers make it more difficult to remember them all, and trying to remember the right one in an emergency when you're not perhaps thinking straight is less likely.


I know by heart the numbers for Police (100), Ambulance (166), and Firefighters (199), everybody knows them here really, even kids, they're very well known.
For the rest I had to look up.
The European emergency phone nr 112 is for mobile phones.


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## Peripes

Here in Peru: Police-105, firefighters-116, civil defense-110 (nobody knows this one for sure), Red Cross-115. I once dialed 911 to see what would happen, turned out it worked and it was the police's emergency centre, I hung up almost immediately. In Lima, each district has its own watchmen and each have their very own telephone number (which is often called an emergency centre but I think it's hardly that) but, let's say that there's a burglar in the very limit of two districts, if he passes from one to another, watchmen can't do anything unless those from the district he is now on are there, and that seldom happens. Where I live it is their number is 448-1680 (not a special number). Watchmen can't carry guns.

Most people here just call the police in case of an emergency.


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## Sepia

What exactly would you call the 110 - civil defense - number for, where you would not already have chosen 116 as the first possibility?


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## Peripes

Sepia said:


> What exactly would you call the 110 - civil defense - number for, where you would not already have chosen 116 as the first possibility?



They provide assitance in case of a natural disaster. However, these incidents are so noticable nobody really needs to call them. They also inspect buildings and such, to verify they're in good conditions. I just happened to see the number and it works, so I put it in there, but we seldom use it.


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## xmarabout

apmoy70 said:


> The European emergency phone nr 112 is for mobile phones.


Not only, it is also working from a fixed phone. But it is free even on mobile phone even if you do not remeber your pin code to unblock your phone


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## HilfswilligerGenosse

arielipi said:


> Israel:
> 100 police
> 101 MDA (magen david adom)
> 102 firefighters
> 103 electricity company
> 104 home front command
> 106 - 109 city services
> 112 general emergency service
> 142 the called will pay for the call (i only know it being done on street phones)
> 144 yellow pages service
> 1220 ZAKA (Disaster Victim Identification) - used after terrorist attacks and whatnot.
> 1221 rescue/saving united org
> 1255 information services at emergency events/times.
> 
> basically what one would normally use is 100 - 103,  106 - 109, 144.
> those in risky areas would also use 104 112.
> there is also the rescue squad of the idf and they also have a number.



When do you need MDA or the "Homefront command" (sounds quite military?) instead of "conventional" police? When Hamas shot a rocket into your house and you somehow are still alive, or what? 

Also, here in Germany: 

110: Police (Polizei)
112: fire brigade (Feuerwehr) *and* ambulance (Rettungsdienst/Notarzt)

and there are some _special_ (more or less) emergency numbers: 

116116: _Kartensperrnotruf_ (emergency call for blocking cards, e.g. credit or ec cards)
116117: _Bereitschaftsdienst_ (for non-life-threatening but serious medical conditions on weekends or holidays)
116111: _Nummer gegen Kummer_ (lit.: Number against Sorrows - a hotline for children and youths in case of sorrows and depression, up to and including suicide prevention)


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## luitzen

113 is the suicide hotline in the Netherlands.


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## Lord Delfos

Similar in Argentina as well: 

100 Fire department.
101 or 911 Police
103 Civil Defense 
105 Environmental emergency ?
106 Nautical Emergency ? No idea what this would be for.
107 Medical Emergency

And several other 3 digit codes for various things...

All of which are being phased out in favor of 911. And this is a very very good idea. With all those numbers you can't remember which one is which.

Some years ago I had to call the firefighters... and the number is... 102? 112? I don't know, my house is burning I better call somebody! Called the first number: "Police emergencies?" I hung out, called the second one: "medical emergencies, what ca..." hung again, called the third one and seeing it was something else, I asked the guy "hey buddy, what's the number for the fire department?" He told me, I hung out and called that (and immediately forgot the number again obviously).

Turns out all calls were being redirected to the same center, the very same guy from the previous number answered the phone.

Not a good idea to have all those emergency numbers, just use one and and transfer the call appropriately, the operator will be waaay more calm than the caller.


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## IRAJ2000

In Iran:

110 Police
115 Medical Emergency
125 Fire Department
147 Red Crescent Society (the same as red cross )

There are many other emergency phone numbers in my country but these are the most important ones.


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## AutumnOwl

In Sweden it's 112, it used to be 90 000 until 1 June 1996. One reason for choosing 90 000 was that it was easy to use with the rotary deal, in Sweden 0 was the first and 9 the last hole in the dial which made it possible to dial even in the dark.

As for my mobile phone, there is a "button" on the start screen for "Nödsamtal" (emergency call), so I don't have to lock up the phone, or even remember the number to dial.


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## jsvillar

The number is unified in all Europe to 112, all threads agree that you can use it for general emergencies. Some of the old numbers still work in Spain, but if you call 112 they will manage and redirect you or just they will call.
091 - National police
092 - Town/local police
061 - Medical emergency
080 - Fire brigade
(91) 232 32 32 - Madrid fire brigade (this was when I was a boy, I never understood why they didn't have a short number like the police. Finally they gave them the number 080)

Couple of trivia:
- the number is 112 so in rotary phones (something that used to exist many, many years ago) it took a short time to dial. It is not 111 to avoid mistakes with pushbutton phones.
- All Spanish land lines start with a 9, the old prefix for area code (for instance, in Madrid, land lines start with 91). So if you are used to dial from the office, where you have to press '0' to get an outside line, then you go home and do the same, dialing '091...'. Instead of your mom's voice you hear 'This is the police, can I help you?'

PS: In Spain, rotary phones went from 1 to 0. 1 disconnected the line one time, 9 did it nine times, and 0 did it ten times. I didn't know it could be different in other countries, as AutumOwl said!


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