Anyone with even a slight connection to production has repeatedly noticed (or perhaps ignored) the emergency service numbers 🚔🚑🚒 listed in instructions, on information boards, and on various signs throughout the facility. But how often do we actually use these numbers, and what awaits us on the other end of the line when we dial those crucial digits during an emergency?
In this age of widespread mobile connectivity, having a cell phone on hand is usually enough to make calling emergency services effortless. From my own experience, I can say it is better to save these numbers in your mobile contacts so that you don't have to scramble to figure out how to dial a specific service depending on your mobile provider.
However, situations can arise where a mobile phone might fail you:
This is exactly when you might need information on emergency numbers for calling from a stationary work landline.
After working at a new place for about six months, during the investigation of yet another incident without consequences, I asked my colleagues a banal and even silly question: how do you call the fire department from a work phone? And then... slow motion 🎥🎬 and, as they say, no comment... We started guessing and using the "trial and error" method to test various versions, but the receiver remained stubbornly silent.
It turned out that the number had to be dialed using a "0" prefix — 001, 002, 003. But there was another quirk: after dialing, you had to wait for 5-10 seconds🕐 for the ringing to start. That is a long time to listen to silence and wait for the ringing if you don't know about it.
Following this interesting discovery, posters with the relevant information were developed and placed in common areas. The information was also duplicated in an email newsletter.
It is a vital necessity ☝ to periodically (for example, during fire or emergency response drills) use emergency numbers and verify the ability to contact them through various means.