emergencySMS

If you get into trouble in the hills and need to contact the emergency services for help then sometimes you can find yourself in the situation where you can just about get a signal but it's not enough to make a call. That's where emergencySMS comes in.

Originally developed for people who cannot make voice calls because they have a hearing loss or a speech impairment the authorities have now accepted that it's valid for use in situations where you have marginal coverage too.

Essentially you just send a text to 999 asking for help however you must register your mobile phone with the service before an emergency happens so do that now while you're reading this.

The full process is explained in more detail here where they emphasis the need to say in the text which service you need, what the problem is, and your location.

So if you broke your leg climbing Scafell Pike you might text:

Police. I have broken leg. Scafell Pike OSGB NY212077

They will then text you back telling you help is on its way or asking for more information.

We know from experience that it's quite common to be in the situation where only SMS works so we think it's well worth while registering for this service: it could help get you out of trouble one day.