Editing Emergency telephone number (section)

=== 999 ===
{{Main|999 (emergency telephone number)}}

The first emergency number system to be deployed anywhere in the world was in [[London]] on 30 June 1937<ref name="BBC">BBC London; [http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/london/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8675000/8675199.stm Why 999 for an emergency?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130719095000/http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/london/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8675000/8675199.stm |date=2013-07-19 }}</ref><ref name="UKTH">British Telecom Archives [http://www.britishtelephones.com/histuk.htm U.K. Telephone History] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121213082807/http://www.britishtelephones.com/histuk.htm |date=2012-12-13 }}</ref> using the number 999, and this was later extended to cover the entire country.<ref name="BBC" /> When 999 was dialed, a buzzer sounded and a red light flashed in the exchange to attract an operator's attention.<ref name="UKTH" />

The emergency number 999 was adopted in [[Winnipeg]], [[Manitoba]], [[Canada]] in 1959 at the urging of [[Stephen Juba]], mayor of Winnipeg at the time.<ref>[Mobile Reference (2007) Chapter:History of emergency services numbers]</ref>  The city changed the number to 911 in 1972, in order to be consistent with the newly adopted US emergency number.<ref>{{Cite web|url =https://www.nena.org/?page=911overviewfacts|title =9-1-1 Origin & History|url-status =live|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20170814221728/https://www.nena.org/?page=911overviewfacts|archive-date =2017-08-14}}</ref>

Others have adopted 999 as their official emergency number, including [[Bahrain]], [[Bangladesh]], [[Botswana]], [[Cook Islands|Cook Island]], [[Eswatini]], [[Ghana]], [[Bailiwick of Guernsey|Guernsey]], [[Hong Kong]], the [[Republic of Ireland]], the [[Isle of Man]], [[Jersey]], [[Kenya]], [[Macau]], [[Malaysia]], [[Mauritius]], [[Niue]], [[Poland]], [[Qatar]], [[Sudan]], [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Singapore]], [[Trinidad and Tobago]], [[Seychelles]], [[Uganda]], the [[United Arab Emirates]], the [[United Kingdom]], and [[Zimbabwe]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The NHS website |url=https://www.nhs.uk/ |website=nhs.uk |access-date=16 February 2021 |language=en |date=16 August 2018 |archive-date=2 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502074502/http://www.wales.nhs.uk/ |url-status=live }}</ref>  Other countries also use it as an alternative, and many GSM handsets will connect 999 to the emergency services regardless of location.