Call for help

From ArticleWorld

A call for help is a common practice of calling for specialized help during emergency situation like fire, flood, crimes, or medical emergencies.

Most countries have emergency services reachable by telephone. They have easy-to-remember, short phone numbers so that they can be reached even when a person is dialing under severe stress. In Australia, the emergency phone number is 000. In New Zeeland, it is 111, and 112 is the common standard in the EU, while 999 is the common number in UK and most Commonwealth states. Some telephone companies assign common variations (911, 999 etc.) besides the usual local phone number so that foreign citizens can still reach them. It is recommended to use a wired telephone and not a mobile telephone, as it is easier to track and the quality of the sound is much better.

Other ways of reaching

Reaching emergency services by telephone is not always possible. In some countries, special emergency call boxes exist, special phones intended exclusively for emergencies, each of them being tracked by emergency services. This is of high importance in remote areas that lack reference points, because the emergency services can immediately locate them.

Conventions for asking help by radio also exist. If the caller can use a two-way radio, he should transmit the words: emergency emergency emergency, the exact location and the nature of emergency, and pause to wait for answers. Marine VHF radio users should set the channel to 16 (156.8 MHz), CB radio users to 9 or 19 (27,065 and 27.185 MHz respectively. If the frequency is unknown, all the frequencies should be tried, starting with the default one. Using mayday should be limited to extreme, life-threatening conditions in aircrafts or vessels.

Note that no emergency call should be taken lightly. False emergency calls are considered serious delicts in almost all countries.