Choice Of Emergency Number Defended

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31902, 1 February 1969, Page 14

Choice Of Emergency Number Defended

The emergency number ill was chosen because it fulfilled a number of needs, including ease of finding, said the Regional Engineer for the Post Office (Mr H. W. Wilkinson), commenting on a letter to the editor of “The Press.”

The correspondent “Maryvale” says: “I recently needed (for the first time) to dial the emergency number 111 in the night. I was afraid to turn the light on and had to fumble agitatedly in the dark. The Post Office could scarcely have chosen a more difficult number to find and to dial. 000 would be easier to find, though even slower to operate than 111. 999 would be perfection.” Mr Wilkinson replies: “For emergency use the number must be easy to remember, easy to locate and usable from any telephone at any time, including public telephones where the service must be available without inserting coins.

“11l meets all these requirements. It is short and

easy to remember; its location is easy to remember as the second number to the left of the dial finger-stop; and dials in public call stations can be adjusted so that both emergency calls and calls to the toll exchange (0) can be made without payment. “In the United Kingdom 999 is in the same position on the dial as 111 is in New Zealand and for the same reasons.

“While 999 is undoubtedly easier to dial, it suffers from two major defects. First, digit 9 corresponds with one impulse signal and is very easily signalled accidentally. For example, just a flick of the cradle-switch on the telephone, or loose wires hitting together in high wind or knocked together by tree branches can cause one impulse to be sent For this reason no telephone number in a public automatic telephone system in New Zealand begins with the figure 9. “The rule to remember is that 1 is second to the left of the finger-stop.”