The emergency services are one thing in the UK you can still get for free! The main ones are the Police, Ambulance and Fire services.

You can contact all of these by calling 999 which is free from any phone, including payphones - so don’t worry if you don’t have any change in your pocket. But remember, only contact these services if the problem you have is a genuine ‘emergency’!

When you call 999, an operator will answer – just tell them which of the three services you require and they will transfer you. Try to stay calm and explain first where you are calling from, and then what the problem is.

Often, the emergency services will work together by sending more than one service if they think it fits the circumstances. But to help you, there are some guidelines below which explain the main jobs of the police, fire and ambulance services in the UK. This will help you know which service you should call, and whether or not your problem is an emergency.

 Fire Service

 -                      fighting fires, or protecting people and property from fire

-                      rescuing people from traffic accidents
-                      rescue operations in less-likely incidents such as flooding, terrorist attacks or where people are trapped

Ambulance

Serious problems with a person’s health:

-                      chest pain
-                      difficulty in breathing
-                      loss of consciousness
-                      severe loss of blood
-                      severe burns and scalds
-                      choking
-                      fitting/convulsions
-                      drowning
-                      severe allergic reactions
-                      any other life-threatening issue

Police

Responding to situations where a crime is being committed against a person or a property – only call if the crime is happening now, or if someone is in danger. This could include many things from burglary (stealing from a house or other property) and theft (stealing from a person) to violent crimes such as rape and assault.

If you need to report a crime where it is not an emergency situation, you must call your local police service. The easiest way to find this is to type it into a search on the internet, (eg. Liverpool police), then click on the ‘contact us’ link. Or call a telephone directory service.

Other emergencies

Serious health problems – if you are having a problem which needs immediate hospital treatment and you can get to a hospital, you go to the nearest Accident and Emergency unit (A&E), where they will be able to help.

It is important to find out where this is in your area in case you have such a problem. You can ask someone you live or work with, or go online and search for ‘accident and emergency’ in your town and you should easily find what you are looking for.

Mountain rescue

If you find yourself in trouble at the top of a mountain in the UK, and you have your mobile phone with you, you can call 999 and ask for ‘police and mountain rescue’ and tell them where you are!

Gas leaks

This does not merit a 999 call, but is definitely an emergency! If you can smell gas around your house, or another property, call the ‘National Grid’ on 0800 111 999 immediately.

After making the call, you should:

-                      open doors and windows
-                      turn the gas off at the meter
-                      NOT use flames such as matches or cigarette lighters
-                      NOT use light switches and plug sockets

by Matt Taylor

KEY WORDS

make an emergency call / dial 999
police force
police officer
report a crime
fire service / fire brigade
fire fighter
evacuate the building
to raise the fire alarm
ambulance service
paramedic
Accident & Emergency Department (A&E)

GRAMMAR SPOT

Conjunctions of Time
An adverbial clause of time often begins with a conjunction:
After we'd called the fire brigade, all we could do was wait
Think carefully before you phone the police
Once you've arrived at A&E the nurses will take care of you
A lot has happened since she reported the crime
I can't discuss the police report until I've read it
The people had already evacuated the building when the fire service arrived

Conjunctions of time include: after, as, as soon as, before, once, since, till/until, when, whenever, while

After, before, since, and till/until can also be prepositions:

After the fire, we had to replace all our furniture
A lot has happened since the accident

When, while, as
The conjunctions have similar uses but also some important differences.

We can use all three words to talk about more than one thing happening at the same time:

I almost fell when/while/as I was coming down the stairs

While and as suggest something continuing for a period of time:

We had to wait outside while the police were in the building
As she was driving along, she collided with another car

But to talk about a certain time in your life, use when:

Lots of people came to visit me when I was in hospital

When the clause of time refers to a short action 'interrupting' a longer one, we use when with the short action:

She was driving along when she collided with another car
When the paramedics arrived, he regained consciousness