Last Updated 23 December 2011
Emergency Services - Fire, Police, Ambulance, Coastguard - 999, or text 80999
In a medical emergency, it is important you stay calm and dial 999.
A 999 call will be answered by a telephone operator, who will ask you which emergency service you require. You will then be connected to the ambulance emergency operations centre, where an emergency medical dispatcher (EMD or call-handler) will ask you:
- To confirm the telephone number you are calling from (this is important in case you are cut off and we need to ring you back);
- What is the location/address of the emergency?
- What is the problem?
The EMD will need some additional details and will ask:
- Are you with the patient now?
- How many people are hurt/sick?
- The patient’s age;
- Is he/she conscious?
- Is he/she breathing?
These questions are not delaying the ambulance response – they are to provide more information to the crew attending the emergency and to allow the EMD to provide further advice to the caller.
Other useful numbers:
Council of the Isles of Scilly - 01720 424000
NHS Direct (for medical advice, 24 hours) - 0845 4647
St Mary's Hospital - 01720 422392
St Mary's Health Centre - 01720 422628
Police - Non Emergency - 101 (NEW!)
St Mary's Police Station - 01720 422444
Environment Agency Floodline - 0845 9881188
Western Power - 0845 6012989
Five Islands School - 01720 424850
Have you put ICE in your mobile?
Storing the name 'ICE' along with a name and telephone number will enable the emergency services to quickly contact someone in the event of an accident.
The premise is simple. If you are involved in a serious accident and cannot communicate with the emergency services, and are not with people who know you, then your identity can easily be found by scrolling down your list of contacts in your mobile phone and finding the name marked 'ICE'. It stands for 'In Case of Emergency'. By storing the phone number of a relative, loved one, or close friend then the emergency services can phone this person and inform them of the situation.
It would be wise to inform that person that they are your 'ICE' buddy, as they may be asked questions relating to your medical history, or even have to give consent for medical treatment. An example may be the use of donor blood in your treatment.
To the right are two examples of how the ICE system would work with your phone. Above is the traditional mobile phone format whereby the screen is a standard black and white display. Usually these phones are unlocked by holding two keys down at the same time, and it usually reminds you off this on the screen when you try to open it.
Whereas the more modern phones tend to look a lot different. Due to the enhanced cost of the units, it also means that there are more safety features on the phone so as to guard against the theft of the device. But the problem with this is that the person would not be conscious to tell you their PIN number! So many phone manufacturers have taken this into consideration and designed a free 'App' for phones which allows people to bypass the lock feature in cases of emergency. The screenshot to the right shows how this may look on some phones.
