PSD: Healthy Living – Challenge 14 This is a question and answer powerpoint aimed at helping you to identify some of the emergency services we have in this country and whether the national or local versions should be contacted. Who would you contact/What would you do if…

HINT: ‘Badly hurt’ implies potentially life-threatening …you witnessed a car accident and needed to help people who had been badly hurt? HINT: ‘Badly hurt’ implies potentially life-threatening What is your gut reaction? Think before clicking on… I would suggest you would ring 999 and ask for an ambulance. If the car is on fire, you may also need to ask for the fire brigade. If there are very irate people on the scene, you may need to ask for the police too.

…you heard gunshots coming from the house next door? HINT: You only heard them. They may not have been aimed at anybody but they could have… What is your gut reaction? Think before clicking on… I would suggest you would ring 999 and ask for the police. If the police arrive and someone has been hurt they will contact the relevant services thereafter, or they may already have taken that precautionary step after you have contacted them about your concerns.

…you saw a building that was on fire? HINT: You don’t know whether anybody is in the building… What is your gut reaction? Think before clicking on… I would suggest you would ring 999 and ask for the fire brigade. If the fire brigade arrive and someone has been hurt they will contact the relevant services thereafter, or they may already have taken that precautionary step after you have contacted them with your information.

What is your gut reaction? Think before clicking on… …you got separated from friends and they haven’t turned up at the rendez-vous point even after 2 hours? COMMENT: Let’s assume you have tried to contact them on their mobile phones and gotten nowhere and that based on the remote location, Brecon Beacons, it is unlikely that they have been abducted. What is your gut reaction? Think before clicking on… I would suggest you dial 112 and ask for Mountain Rescue. They may also advise you to contact the local police force or they may indicate that they will do this for you.

What is your gut reaction? Think before clicking on… …a friend has been swept out to sea by strong currents and can’t get back to shore? HINT: You cannot get to them either but you can see that they are still, at present, on top of the water. What is your gut reaction? Think before clicking on… I would suggest you dial 112 and ask for the Coast Guard who will co-ordinate all maritime and sea rescues with the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institute).

…you found a fox that was stuck in a fence? HINT: Foxes may carry diseases you wouldn’t want so you would need to avoid being bitten and not attempt to free them yourself without specialist equipment. What is your gut reaction? Think before clicking on… I would suggest you would find the telephone number of the local RSPCA and contact them. If the RSPCA cannot free the fox, they may contact the fire brigade to ask them to bring out specialist equipment to assist them.

…you found that your car had been broken into? HINT: Nobody has been hurt, the car has merely been vandalised by the breaking of a window and the change you kept in the dashboard holder for car parking has been taken. What is your gut reaction? Think before clicking on… I would suggest you may (or may not decide to) contact the local police force directly or dial 101 to report the crime. You will then need to contact your car insurer to claim for a replacement window, unless your excess is likely to be higher than the cost of a new window, in which case you would simply take the car to a local garage and pay for it to be fixed.

…your child had an abnormally high temperature? HINT: Your child is between 0-3 years of age and has no other symptoms to suggest they are in a life-threatening situation. What is your gut reaction? Think before clicking on… I would suggest you ring NHS 111 who will take your details and get a professional to ring you back to advise you on what to do next. If they feel your child is at risk of something, they may advise you to take them to your local hospital or call an ambulance.

…your dog was hit by a car? HINT: There are two possible answers here dependent upon whether the act of running your dog over was deliberate or not! Let’s assume it was an accident… What is your gut reaction? Think before clicking on… I would suggest you would find the telephone number for the local vet and contact them. They may ask you to not move the dog and they will come out to the site of the accident, but more likely they will ask you to take the dog to them, or a better equipped vets practice, immediately.

999 or 111 or 101 or 112? Are you aware that there are several ‘National’ telephone numbers for the different emergency services? For life-threatening emergencies or crimes in the process of being committed, you should be dialling 999. If you have a non-life-threatening medical problem, you should be dialling 111. To report or give information about crimes that are not currently in progress you should be dialling 101. For the Coast Guard or Mountain Rescue you should be dialling 112. Alternatively, you could be dialling the local services…

Local Services As part of Challenge 14, you need to find the telephone numbers for the national as well as local services. The local numbers will be different for the students studying with the MNES as you all live at different places across the County of Wiltshire. You can use the yellow pages or your local telephone directory OR yell.com to find the numbers you need.