List of emergency telephone numbers

In many countries, dialing specific emergency numbers will connect callers to local emergency services. For example, 112 is used in Europe and parts of Asia, while 911 is common in the Americas. However, some countries have their own unique emergency numbers depending on the service required. Below is a detailed list of emergency numbers used globally, categorized by region and country.

An emergency telephone number is a number that allows a caller to contact local emergency services for assistance. The emergency number differs from country to country; it is typically a three-digit number so that it can be easily remembered and dialed quickly. Some countries have a different emergency number for each of the different emergency services; these often differ only by the last digit.

First introduced in the London area on 30 June 1937,^[2] the UK’s 999 number is the world’s oldest emergency call telephone service.

Read Also: 000 (Emergency Telephone Number)

In many countries, dialing either 112 (used in Europe and parts of Asia, Africa and South America) or 911 (used mostly in the Americas) will connect callers to emergency services. For individual countries, see the list of emergency telephone numbers.

Universal Emergency Numbers

• 112: Common in Europe and parts of Asia.
• 911: Predominantly used in North and South America.
• 999: Widely used in the UK and other regions.
• Other Numbers: Vary by country and emergency service required.

Africa

Antarctica

Asia

Europe

Oceania

Central America

Caribbean

North America

South America

Mobile telephony

Mobile phones can be used in countries with different emergency numbers. This means that a traveller visiting a foreign country does not have to know the local emergency numbers. The mobile phone and the SIM card have a preprogrammed list of emergency numbers. When the user tries to set up a call using an emergency number known by a GSM or 3G phone, the special emergency call setup takes place. The actual number is not even transmitted into the network, but the network redirects the emergency call to the local emergency desk. Most GSM mobile phones can dial emergency numbers even when the phone keyboard is locked, the phone is without a SIM card, emergency number is entered instead of the PIN or there is not a network signal (busy network).

Most GSM mobile phones have 112, and 911 as pre-programmed emergency numbers that are always available. The SIM card issued by the operator can contain additional country-specific emergency numbers that can be used even when roaming abroad. The GSM network can also update the list of well-known emergency numbers when the phone registers to it.

Using an emergency number recognized by a GSM phone like 112 instead of another emergency number may be advantageous, since GSM phones and networks give special priority to emergency calls. A phone dialing an emergency service number not recognized by it may refuse to roam onto another network, leading to trouble if there is no access to the home network. Dialing a known emergency number like 112 forces the phone to try the call with any available network.

On some networks, a GSM phone without a SIM card may be used to make emergency calls, and most GSM phones accept a larger list of emergency numbers without SIM card, such as 112, 911, 118, 119, 000, 110, 08, and 999. However, some GSM networks will not accept emergency calls from phones without a SIM card. For example, to decrease the risk of nuisance calls, French and British networks typically did not allow emergency calls without a SIM card.

The GSM phones may regard some phone numbers with one or two digits as special service codes. It might be impossible to make an emergency call to numbers like 03 or 92 with a mobile phone. In those cases the emergency number has to be called by using a landline telephone or with an additional first/last digit (for example 922 or 992 instead of 92 and 003 or 033 instead of 03).

In the United States, the FCC requires networks to route every mobile-phone and payphone 911 call to an emergency service call center, including phones that have never had service, or whose service has lapsed. As a result, there are programs that provide donated used mobile phones to victims of domestic violence and others especially likely to need emergency services. Since 2020, emergency responders have been able to better locate callers who dial 911 on their cellphones from indoors as the U.S. wireless industry improved caller-location for the majority of such calls. The “heightened location accuracy,” available to supporting networks and handsets, can find callers through nearby devices connected to Wi-Fi or Bluetooth that are logged with a specific location in a special emergency-services database.

Mobile phones generate additional problems for emergency operators, as many phones will allow emergency numbers to be dialed even while the keypad is locked. Since mobile phones are typically carried in pockets and small bags, the keys can easily be depressed accidentally, leading to unintended calls. A system has been developed in the UK to connect calls where the caller is sent to an automated system, leaving more operators free to handle genuine emergency calls

This detailed guide provides a comprehensive overview of emergency telephone numbers around the world, categorized by region and country. It highlights the numbers to dial in case of various emergencies, ensuring quick and efficient access to the necessary services.

As earlier telephone systems used loop disconnect dialing, attention was devoted to avoiding the number being dialed accidentally by errant interruptions of the circuits by making them involve long sequences of pulses, such as with the UK 999 emergency number. This meant that “111” could not be used: “111” dialing could accidentally take place when phone lines were in too close proximity to each other. Subscribers, as they were called then, were even given instructions on how to find the number “9” on the dial in darkened, or smoke-filled, rooms, by locating and placing the first finger in the “0” and the second in the “9”, then removing the first when actually dialling. Some people have reported accidentally dialing 112 by loop-disconnect for various technical reasons, including while working on extension telephone wiring, and point to this as a disadvantage of the 112 emergency number, which takes only four loop-disconnects to activate.

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