Emergency Ambulance Services Phoning 999 for an ambulance in a health emergency

(You can phone 999 for ambulance, fire, police or coastguard.This section is about phoning 999 for an ambulance in a health emergency)

If you have a health emergency, phone 999.

(A health emergency is a serious or life threatening situation)

The first person to answer the phone is an operator.

They will say “Emergency services, which service do you require?”

Say “ambulance” in English.

Try to avoid saying “Please help…” straight away

The word “please” might sound like “police” and they might put you through to the police instead.

Then you will speak to someone at the ambulance service.

If you need an interpreter, it is quicker to tell the operator which service you need first (Ambulance), and then ask the ambulance service for an interpreter

The questions we ask are listed in the next section