Editing 999 (emergency telephone number) (section)

===History===
First introduced in the [[London]] area on 30 June 1937,<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-standard-999-british-emergenc/90389961/ "Dial 999 If Your Call Is Urgent"], ''Evening Standard'' (London), 30 June 1937, p.22</ref> the UK's 999 number is the world's oldest emergency call telephone service. The system was introduced following a [[house fire]] in [[Wimpole Street]] on 10 November 1935, in which five women were killed.<ref name="women.timesonline.co.uk">{{cite news |url=http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article6826410.ece |title=999: can somebody help? It's an emergency |newspaper=[[The Times]] |date=9 September 2009 |access-date=11 September 2009 |location=London |archive-date=15 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615172721/http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article6826410.ece |url-status=dead }}</ref> A neighbour had tried to telephone the fire brigade and was so outraged at being held in a queue by the Welbeck telephone exchange that he wrote a letter to the editor of ''[[The Times]]'',<ref>{{cite news |url=http://archive.timesonline.co.uk/tol/viewArticle.arc?articleId=ARCHIVE-The_Times-1935-11-11-13-013&pageId=ARCHIVE-The_Times-1935-11-11-13 |title=The fire in Wimpole Street |newspaper=[[The Times]] |date=11 November 1935 |access-date=11 September 2009 |location=London |url-status=dead }}</ref> which prompted a government inquiry.<ref name="women.timesonline.co.uk"/>

The initial scheme covered a {{convert|12|mi|km|adj=on}} radius around [[Oxford Circus]]<ref name=Y999>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/london/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8675000/8675199.stm |title=Why 999 for an emergency? |first=Gary |last=Holland |website=BBC History |date=13 May 2010 |access-date=1 July 2012 |archive-date=19 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130719095000/http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/london/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8675000/8675199.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> and the public were advised only to use it in an ongoing emergency if "for instance, the man in the flat next to yours is murdering his wife or you have seen a heavily masked cat burglar peering round the stack pipe of the local bank building."<ref name=beeb9>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18520121 |title=Dial 999: 75 years of emergency phone calls |website=BBC News |first=Keith |last=Moore |date=30 June 2012 |access-date=21 July 2018 |archive-date=21 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821043324/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18520121 |url-status=live }}</ref> The first arrest – for burglary – took place a week later and the scheme was extended to major cities after [[World War II]] and then to the whole of the UK in 1976.<ref name=beeb9/>

The 9-9-9 format was chosen based on the 'button A' and 'button B' design of pre-payment coin-operated public [[payphone]]s in wide use (first introduced in 1925) which could be easily modified to allow free use of the 9 digit on the [[rotary dial]] in addition to the 0 digit (then used to call the operator), without allowing free use of numbers involving other digits; other combinations of free call 9 and 0 were later used for more purposes, including multiples of 9 (to access exchanges before [[subscriber trunk dialling]] came into use) as a fail-safe for attempted emergency calls, e.g. 9 or 99, reaching at least an operator.<ref>{{cite book |last=Atkinson |title=Telephony, Volume 2 |year=1950 |publisher=Pitman}}</ref>
[[File:Rotarydial.JPG|right|thumb|100px|US-style [[rotary phone]]]]
The choice of 999 was fortunate for accessibility, because in the dark or in dense smoke 999 could be dialled by placing a finger one hole away from the dial stop (see the articles on [[rotary dial]] and [[GPO telephones]]) and rotating the dial to the full extent three times. This enables all users including the visually impaired to easily dial the emergency number. It is also the case that it is relatively easy for 111, and other low-number sequences, to be called accidentally, including when transmission wires making momentary contact produce a pulse similar to dialling (e.g. when overhead cables touch in high winds).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.btplc.com/News/Articles/ShowArticle.cfm?ArticleID=6e55cb12-8c0c-417f-b68c-6a7f62b1d8c8 |title=999 celebrates its 70th birthday |date=29 June 2007 |website=[[BT plc]] |access-date=2 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090302014433/http://www.btplc.com/News/Articles/ShowArticle.cfm?ArticleID=6e55cb12-8c0c-417f-b68c-6a7f62b1d8c8 |archive-date=2 March 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7748046.stm |title=When are silent 999 calls cut off? |date=26 November 2008 |website=BBC News |access-date=26 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203053715/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7748046.stm| archive-date=3 December 2008| url-status= live}}</ref>

Hoax calls and improper use are a problem. For these reasons, there are frequent public information campaigns in the UK on the correct use of the 999 system.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Homer |first1=Alex |title=When do 999 calls become a nuisance? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-28562807 |website=BBC News |access-date=28 July 2020 |date=7 August 2014 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728150322/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-28562807 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Alternative three-digit numbers for non-emergency calls have also been introduced in recent years. [[Single Non-Emergency Number|101]] was introduced for non-urgent calls to Police in England and Wales<ref name="ho101">{{cite web |url=http://www.101.gov.uk/ |title=Welcome to 101 |website=[[Home Office]] |access-date=22 June 2014 |archive-date=9 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209040746/http://www.101.gov.uk/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and later extended to Scotland<ref name="scot101">{{cite web |url=http://www.scotland.police.uk/whats-happening/campaigns/2013/101-non-emergency/ |title=101 |website=Police Scotland |access-date=22 June 2014 |archive-date=14 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170614235405/http://www.scotland.police.uk/whats-happening/campaigns/2013/101-non-emergency/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> and Northern Ireland.<ref name="bbc-26716051">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-26716051 |title=New 101 number for non-emergency PSNI calls |website=BBC News |date=14 March 2014 |access-date=21 July 2018 |archive-date=10 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181110151853/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-26716051 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Trials of [[NHS 111|111]] as a number to access health services in the UK for urgent but not life-threatening cases began in England in 2010. The main roll-out was originally meant to be finished by April 2013<ref>{{cite web |title=Q&A: NHS 111 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22370621 |website=BBC News |access-date=28 July 2020 |date=29 July 2013 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728163712/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22370621 |url-status=live }}</ref> but was not completed until February 2014.<ref>{{cite web |title=Retendering NHS 111 contracts could cost millions |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jan/02/retendering-nhs-111-contracts-cost-millions |website=The Guardian |access-date=28 July 2020 |language=en |date=2 January 2014 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728144806/https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jan/02/retendering-nhs-111-contracts-cost-millions |url-status=live }}</ref> In Scotland, the NHS24 service moved from 0845 424 2424 to 111 on 29 April 2014.<ref name="new111">{{cite web |url=http://www.nhs24.com/111 |title=New 111 telephone number |website=NHS 24 |date=29 April 2014 |url-status=live |archive-date=29 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429111226/http://www.nhs24.com/111}}</ref><ref name="bbc111">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-27198513 |title=New 111 freephone number for NHS 24 helpline |website=BBC News |date=29 April 2014 |url-status=live |archive-date=29 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429230321/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-27198513}}</ref> NHS 111 Wales (formally NHS Direct Wales) can now be accessed through the 111 number.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Gregory |first=Rhys |date=5 April 2022 |title=NHS 111 service now available across Wales |work=Wales 24/7 |url=https://www.wales247.co.uk/nhs-111-service-now-available-across-wales |access-date=6 October 2022 |archive-date=5 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220405092519/https://www.wales247.co.uk/nhs-111-service-now-available-across-wales |url-status=live }}</ref> It previously used 0845 46 47 but the rollout of 111 was completed,<ref name=":1" /> following trials starting in 2016 <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nhsdirect.wales.nhs.uk/contactus/|title=NHS Direct Wales - Contact Us|website=www.nhsdirect.wales.nhs.uk|access-date=2020-04-21|archive-date=7 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200307154910/https://www.nhsdirect.wales.nhs.uk/contactus/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2008–2009, Nottinghamshire Police ran a successful pilot of ''Pegasus'', a database containing the details of people with physical and learning disabilities or mental health problems, who have registered with the force because their disabilities make it difficult for them to give spoken details when calling the police. Those registered on the database are issued with a personal identification number (PIN) that can be used in two ways. By phone – either 999 or the force's non-emergency 101 number can be used – once a person is put through to the control room, they only need to say "Pegasus" and their PIN. Their details can then be retrieved from the database and the caller can quickly get on with explaining why they have called. In person – the ''Pegasus'' PIN can be told or shown to a police officer. Pegasus is also used by the City of London Police, Dyfed Powys Police, Surrey Police & Lincolnshire Police.

The use of push-button telephones can cause problems,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/684804.stm |title=Mobiles blamed for emergency calls |website=[[BBC News Online]] |date=21 March 2000 |access-date=12 December 2008 |archive-date=4 March 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030304075038/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/684804.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> because it is easy to push the same button repeatedly by accident, e.g. by objects in the same pocket as the telephone (termed '[[pocket dialling]]') or by children playing with it. This problem is less of a concern with emergency numbers that use two different digits, such as 112 and 911, although on landlines 112 suffers much of the same risk of false generation as the 111 code which was considered and rejected when the original choice of 999 was made.

The pan-European 112 code was introduced in the UK in April 1995<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/oftel/publications/numbering/acc0500.htm#Annex%20C |title=Access Codes: Options for the future |website=[[Oftel]] |date=May 2000 |access-date=31 July 2012 |archive-date=13 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120713201051/http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/oftel/publications/numbering/acc0500.htm#Annex%20C |url-status=live }}</ref> with little publicity. It connects to existing 999 circuits. The [[GSM]] standard mandates that a user can dial 112 without unlocking the keypad, which can save time but also causes some accidental calls.

Silent solution 55 is the name given to the initiative that allows people to call 999 when they are not able to speak. If the caller does not initially respond to opening questions, the operator will then ask the caller to cough, tap their handset or make another audible sign that indicates they are in need of emergency assistance. In some instances where there is still no clear response, the call may be put through to an automated system which asks the caller to press 55 if in danger.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/contact-us/what-happens-when-you-dial-999/silent-999-calls |title=Silent 999 Calls |website=West Yorkshire Police |access-date=6 June 2017 |archive-date=3 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903203201/https://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/contact-us/what-happens-when-you-dial-999/silent-999-calls |url-status=live }}</ref>