Emergency is a situation that poses an instant threat to human life or possessions though this description may be different in some areas. Deliberate bogus reports of an emergency are usually prosecuted as an offense. One should call for help any time there is a danger for life or public order. The emergency telephone number is a special case in the country’s telephone number sketch.

The emergency telephone number differs from country to country. It is typically a three-digit number (though not always), so that it can be easily remembered and dialed quickly. Some countries have a different emergency number for each of the different emergency services; these often differ only by the last digit. The three main and best known emergency call services are firebrigade, police and ambulance. Other available services include coastguards, mountain rescue and cave rescue (where locally applicable). Some situations such as a major car accident or a terrorist attack will require multiple and/or expert services but the first point of call for coverage such incidents from the general public is still the 9-9-9 system. The number is operated by British Telecom for the Home Office. The operator may also be able to offer help over the phone until the emergency service staff arrive. 9-9-9 is the United Kingdom ’s Emergency telephone number along with the EU standard 1-1-2 . Either number can be used but people always refer to 9-9-9. If you are using a mobile phone which is out of range, dial 112. This will connect you directly to emergency services even if you do not have network coverage.

Use of emergency number is always intended to be used only in an emergency. For usual and non-urgent enquiries one should use the normal telephone for the particular emergency service. These are normally listed in the local telephone directory. In the United Kingdom , for example, the number 0845 46 47 can also be dialed for NHS Direct, a non-emergency medical service. Routine and non-urgent calls as well as trick or nonconformist calls to emergency services numbers waste the time of both dispatchers and emergency responders and can cause danger to lives. False reports of emergencies are often put on trial as crimes.

Regional Emergency Numbers

Some of the worldwide emergency telephone number for emergency help are as:

“911” in North America
”999″ or “112” in the United Kingdom
“112″ in Europe
“000” in Australia
“111” in New Zealand
“119″ in parts of Asia

One may also dial the operator (often by dialing “0″) and state clearly that it is an emergency. Within the European Union and on GSM mobile phone networks 112 can be used in count to any local emergency number.

In this world of live TV broadcasting, it’s likely few have missed witnessing the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.

An overwhelming sense of helplessness permeates the lives of thousands of victims in New Orleans and other affected areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. You need cold steel in your heart and ice water in your veins to not be mournful of their plight.

The pattern of Katrina prior to its cataclysmic route was coined by some to be “nothing to worry about” as it whirled 95 miles per hour gusts through portions of Miami eventually causing about 100 millions dollars of estimated damage. And, this was before it locked its sight on New Orleans.

Why do people pretend certain things won’t happen to them? Like dying prematurely … or becoming disabled … or running out of food and water.

Even when a crisis situation is up close and in our face we tend to quickly dismiss it. For example, the car accident scene we just passed as paramedics were placing severely injured passengers into the ambulance. You could see pools of blood on the street and twisted metal with broken glass strewn everywhere.

Then, once beyond the accident scene we began accelerating to speeds excessively over the posted limits. Out of sight… out of mind.

Why won’t we take these real life experiences seriously enough to prepare for the worst?

On Aug. 24, 1992, Hurricane Andrew slammed into South Florida. It wiped out Homestead, Florida City and parts of Miami before continuing northwest across the Gulf of Mexico to strike the Louisiana coastline.

The storm was responsible for 40 deaths and $30-billion in property damage. At the time, it was the costliest disaster in U.S history.

We have only just begun to calculate the cost of Hurricane Katrina. More than likely, it will be beyond our capacity to imagine.

During August and September 2004, Florida was lambasted by Hurricanes Charley, Dennis, Ivan and Jeanne. The damage was astounding and perhaps foretold of things to come - like Katrina.

So, why don’t we better prepare for these dramas of Mother Nature? Why do we ignore the fact that what happened before will most assuredly happen again?

On September 11, 1992 (less than one month after Andrew) Hurricane Iniki leveled every telephone pole and hundreds of trees on the Island of Kauai in Hawaii. Fortunately no one was killed and yet the preparation for this disaster was postponed because it was originally forecast to be less severe.

Planning for any disaster is filled with complications. Various departments of local, state and federal governments often clash due to opposing viewpoints or budget constraints.

Interesting isn’t it? When panic is upon us … when the disaster has struck … more often than not we rise to the occasion. And yet, we frequently fail to prepare for future disasters that could threaten the lives of our own family.

If we were as smart as we are compassionate, we would help ourselves and our families by storing provisions to be used, if necessary, for our survival. More information can be found at: http://www.survival-center.com.

Compassion seems to come easier than wisdom. Is this because it’s easier to write a check than to spend time making a plan for our own survival?

But do our checks really go to help those we care about?

Even the Red Cross admits there are times funds end up being distributed to parties other than those designated by the contributors.