Dialing 999: the UK's lifeline

September marks the UK’s annual 999 Day, the date when people across the country show their support for our dedicated emergency services. The special day is named after the emergency telephone number that everybody seems to know (even if they can’t remember ever being taught it). But what else do you know about the famous 999 number? Here are 9 fascinating facts about this indispensable emergency phone service…

(1) ‘999’ as an emergency telephone number was introduced on June 30th 1937 in London, making it the world’s oldest emergency number. After World War Two, the scheme was extended to other large cities. By 1976 the '999' service had been rolled out to the entire UK.

(2) The 999 service had been recommended by a government inquiry launched in 1935 in response to a tragic incident in London. Five women had been killed in a house fire on Wimpole Street after a neighbour had been unable to call the fire brigade promptly. His call had been put in a queue by the telephone exchange. In outrage, he wrote a letter to The Times, and questions were then raised in Parliament.

(3) In the first years of the service, telephone control rooms would alert operators that a '999' call had been made by sounding klaxons and flashing red lights. If no operator was free to take the call, then one of them was expected to put their call on hold to take the emergency. The London Evening News advised people how to use the new ‘999’ service prudently: “Only dial 999... if the matter is urgent; 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. If the matter is less urgent, if you have merely lost little Towser or a lorry has come to rest in your front garden, just call up the local police."

(4)‘999’ was chosen as the emergency number after several other options were rejected. 111 was considered first, but rejected because it could be triggered by faulty equipment or by lines rubbing together. 000 was impossible to use as the first 0 would connect to the operator. ‘999’ seemed a sensible choice. It had the added benefit that the number 9 could be easily found in the dark simply by touch on a rotary phone.

(5) It was less than a week after the launch of ‘999’ that the first arrest was made following a call. The arrest was of 24 year-old Thomas Duffy, a labourer who had been attempting a break-in when the householder dialed '999'.

(6) Originally, it was the Police, Ambulance and Fire Brigade that were made available through’999’. In 1948, the Coastguard became the fourth emergency service to be made contactable through the emergency number.

(7) The United States of America briefly considered using ‘999’ as an emergency number too, but instead opted for ‘911’ introduced in 1968. The European Union introduced ‘112’ as a standard emergency number in 1991.

(8) ‘999’ was first made available for mobile phone users in 1986. By 2022, 74% of ‘999’ calls were made from mobiles.

(9) Today, around 35 Million calls a year are made to the ‘999’ emergency call line. About half of these calls are for the Police. This is followed by the Ambulance, Fire & Rescue and Coastguard.

To celebrate this year's 999 Day, NESM launched !nspire 999, an online project to collect and showcase the stories of our amazing emergency workers. For more information visit the Inspire 999 website.