Ask for Police, then Mountain Rescue.
You can also dial 112.
Your phone's GPS works without mobile signal. Calling 999 does need signal.
OS grid reference
You look to be outside Great Britain's National Grid. Give your latitude and longitude instead.
Save your battery. While it runs, this page keeps your screen on where your phone allows it, which uses power. Once you have your grid reference, write it down or send it, then press Stop. Scottish Mountain Rescue advise keeping your phone fully charged and in an inside pocket, and trying to save its battery when you need help.
What To Do
From Mountain Rescue England and Wales and Scottish Mountain Rescue.
- Make sure you are safe. Check you and your group are not in any immediate danger.
- Work out where you are. Use the grid reference above, or a named place or feature.
- Get the details ready. Your location (a grid reference if you can), the name, gender and age of anyone hurt, what the injuries or emergency are, how many people are in your group, and your mobile number.
- Dial 999 or 112. Ask for Police, then Mountain Rescue. Make sure you tell the operator you want to speak to the Police. The Police call out the mountain rescue team.
- Stay where you are. Do not change your position until the mountain rescue team has contacted you.
- Keep warm. Put extra clothing on anyone hurt and insulate them from the ground.
- Calling again? If you have to make another 999 call, follow the same steps in full again.
- Signal for help. Six short blasts on a whistle or flashes of a torch in quick succession, repeated at one-minute intervals.
If your phone has Location Services and internet access, the rescue team can send you a SARLOC or Phonefind link to help them find you.
Text 999
You must register first. You can only use emergencySMS if your phone is registered. Do it now, before you need it:
- Text the word register to 999.
- You will get an automatic reply. Read all of it.
- Reply by texting yes.
- You will get a text saying your mobile is registered. Register again if you change your number.
Who it is for. Relay UK's official guidance presents emergencySMS as one of its services for deaf, hard of hearing or speech-impaired people in the UK. It suggests using emergencySMS only if you have no other option, because it takes longer than a voice 999 call. Scottish Mountain Rescue say that if you have too little signal to call 999, you can text 999.
What to put in the text. Mountain Rescue England and Wales say to text Police with the details of the incident and your location. Scottish Mountain Rescue say to name the service, briefly say what has happened, and give your location, such as a grid reference. Their example: "Mountain Rescue. Man with lower leg injury. On the summit of Ben Lomond."
Wait for a reply. Do not assume your message has arrived until you get a reply. A delivery report does not mean the emergency service has it. A reply can take a couple of minutes.
Text 999 (registered phones only)Once you have a location, this button starts a text to 999 with your grid reference filled in. Add what has happened before you send it.
About These Numbers
Grid reference. Your phone gives a position on the WGS84 datum. We convert it to the Ordnance Survey National Grid (OSGB36) on this phone, with no signal needed, using the Helmert transformation and map projection published in Ordnance Survey's A Guide to Coordinate Systems in Great Britain. Ordnance Survey say this transformation is accurate to within 3.5 metres (95%), so add that to the accuracy shown. It is not valid outside Britain.
6-figure and 10-figure. The 10-figure reference points to a 1 metre square. The 6-figure version points to a 100 metre square. Scottish Mountain Rescue ask for a 6-figure grid reference, ideally.
Accuracy. This is your phone's own estimate of how far out the position could be. If it is large, wait for it to improve, or give the number with your location.
Heights. Ground height is read from Mapbox's terrain data at your position and needs signal the first time for each area. GPS height comes from your phone, if it gives one.
Nearest hill. From the hills on The Lost Peak's lists. Heights from The Database of British and Irish Hills.
Keep this page open. Load it while you have signal. Once it is open, the location, grid reference and nearest hill keep working without signal.
Sources
- Mountain Rescue England and Wales: Be Adventure Smart safety leaflet
- Ordnance Survey: Stay safe in the outdoors (advice from Mountain Rescue England and Wales)
- Scottish Mountain Rescue: Calling for help
- Scottish Mountain Rescue: Registering for 999 text services
- Relay UK: Contact 999 using Relay UK (emergencySMS)
- Ordnance Survey, A Guide to Coordinate Systems in Great Britain: Approximate WGS84 to OSGB36 transformation, Helmert datum transformations, Datum, ellipsoid and projection information and Converting between grid eastings and northings and latitude and longitude
- Ordnance Survey: OS Locate (GPS does not need a mobile signal)
- Mapbox Terrain-RGB v1 (ground height © Mapbox)
- MDN: GeolocationCoordinates.altitude
- The Database of British and Irish Hills (hill heights)