Citizens of Bangladesh will get fire service, police or ambulance service in emergency by calling completely toll free from any mobile number under the initiative of Information and Communication Technology Department. The trained agents of the 999 service will put you in contact with the fire service, police or ambulance service provider as per your need in the event of an emergency. How to use this service is detailed below.

National Helpdesk-999 operators are trained to handle various types of calls and emergency services. All these agents get some technical support to provide accurate and quality service. However, when a citizen calls 999, it is advisable to keep the following points in mind.

1. Providing Address: Knowing the location or address of the help seeker is most important and essential for getting emergency services. Tell the operator (agent) your exact location as much as possible, in this case the name of the district or upazila should also be mentioned. If you don't know your exact location, you can mention the name of nearby major road, market or highway.

2. Answering questions correctly: In order to provide you with the correct service, the operator or emergency service provider (in this case the police, fire service, ambulance service authority) will ask you some questions so that they can communicate your needs to the appropriate officer or authority. Or tell you about some life-saving tips or things to do. Assist the operator by providing correct answers to such questions. However, you may need to answer the same question more than once to be sure of your needs; This can happen especially if the call is transferred from 999 to the police or fire service or to the hospital.

3. Be patient: Stay calm during the call and explain your problem in detail. Many times it is seen that the citizen gets emotional and says unnecessary things while talking about his problem. This should not be done. This makes it difficult for the operator to catch the root of the problem and provide real help. Remember, the calmer you are, the more detailed you can describe your incident and the better the operator will be able to serve you.

4. Explain your emergency situation: While explaining the emergency situation, be careful about a few things. Are you or someone close to you in trouble? How did it happen? What type of emergency service do you need – an ambulance? Police? Or other emergency services? If someone is injured, try to be clear about the situation – is the injured person's condition very serious? Does he have consciousness? Can he breathe? What blood is coming out of his body? Try to tell the condition of the patient as best as you can, if you have difficulty speaking, you can tell someone next to you, stay on the line without cutting the call.

5. Remember this when seeking ambulance services: Ambulance services provided by the 999 service are not free. Actually no authority in Bangladesh provides free ambulance service. And the way 999 works, it contacts various ambulance service providers according to the citizen's needs. As a result, the fare amount is determined according to the type of ambulance, destination etc. So give all these details to the operator correctly to seek ambulance service. It should be noted that 999 does not provide a hearse ambulance service.

6. Remember this when seeking fire service: Fire services provide more than just fire services. Such as road accidents, marine accidents, trapped people or animals, rescue of birds etc. So call 999 if you need this kind of service. Assist the operator with information necessary to dispatch adequate help to the scene. If you see such an incident while moving, try to make sure that a fire service or police unit has arrived before you call.

7. Remember this when seeking police services: In case of emergency police services, the 999 operator will put you in touch with the nearest police station. You can report your complaint there. As calls to 999 are recorded for reference, provide correct information to speak to the police. If you call 999 out of enmity, legal action will be taken against you. In case of police assistance, most of the times one has to go to the nearest police station to complain. Because in many cases, the police cannot start an investigation without a written complaint. Talk to the officials of the concerned police station through 999 and know what you need to do.

8. Describe the offender: If you see a crime in progress, get to a safe place quickly. Call 999 as soon as possible. Let us know if you know the culprit or if you suspect anyone. State whether the offender had a weapon. What does the criminal look like? His religion? Give approximate age, height, weight, color of clothes etc. Where is the criminal now? Did they run away? Which way did it go? Did they have any cars with them? what car What is the car model, color and car size? Even give details like car number etc.

9. Keep the phone open: If you are calling from a mobile phone, keep your number open so that the operator can call you back at any time. Apart from this, police, fire service or ambulance authorities can also contact you according to your needs.

10. Create awareness: Many children call the 999 emergency service every day for no reason. As a result, the real victims suffer. Take the time and opportunity to teach your children how and when to call 999. Shown when not to call.

11. Every call is important: Every call is important be it fake call or prank call. However, these calls hinder the delivery of actual emergency services. Legal action will be taken against fake calls. Lock your mobile to avoid 999 calls due to your carelessness.

Operators are waiting for you. Stay well, stay safe.