When you’re in an emergency

Call 111 if you cannot decide whether your situation is an emergency.

Help with deciding who to call

• Examples of emergencies — for police, fire and ambulance services.
• Non-emergency contacts — options for police, fire and medical services.

Examples of emergencies

Police examples of emergencies

Ask for the police when:

• people are injured or in danger
• there is a serious, immediate or imminent risk to life or property
• a crime is being or has just been committed, and the offenders are still at the scene or have just left.

Fire examples of emergencies

Ask for the fire service if you:

• have fire or smoke in your home — get out and stay out
• see or smell a fire in your home or another building
• witness a car crash, including car fires and when people are trapped
• notice a gas leak from a broken pipe — move away from the leak to where there is no smell
• or your property are in serious danger from storm damage.

Medical examples of emergencies

Ask for an ambulance if someone has:

• difficulty breathing
• chest pain — this can feel like a weight or a squeezing feeling in your chest
• fainted or gone unconscious
• a life-threatening mental health situation
• had a stroke — they may have suddenly gone weak, had their vision change, become dizzy or have trouble talking
• severe pain anywhere
• bleeding that will not stop.

Non-emergency contacts

If you’re not in an emergency, there are ways to contact each service for situations that are not urgent.

Police contacts for non-emergencies

To report non-emergency situations to the NZ Police, use either:

• the Police Non-Emergency service
• other NZ Police contacts.

Fire contacts for non-emergencies

To report fire-related situations that do not need an immediate response, either:

• send general enquiries and questions — Fire and Emergency NZ
• contact your local civil defence group — National Emergency Management Agency
• report your concern with your local council — Local Government NZ.

Medical contacts for non-emergencies

For situations that are not urgent, call Healthline for advice. It’s free and its healthcare professionals can help you decide, for example, if you should see your regular doctor or go to a hospital.

Healthline — Health NZ | Te Whatu Ora

Mental health contacts

If you’re struggling with your mental health, contact for:

• a life-threatening situation: 111 or go to your nearest hospital — Ministry of Health.
• an emergency: your local crisis assessment team for mental health — Health NZ | Te Whatu Ora
• general help: the Mental Health Support Line — 1737.org.nz.

What happens when you call 111

If it’s safe to talk, tell the 111 operator which main service you need, either:

• police
• fire
• ambulance.

More than 1 emergency service provider might respond, depending on your situation.

During the call

• Listen and follow the prompts of the emergency services call-taker.
• Some questions might be repeated, so the call-taker can make sure they have the right information.
• If the situation needs an immediate response, help may be sent while the call-taker asks you more questions.

Police emergency call

If you can, get to safety before calling.

On the call — police emergency

On the call, you’ll be asked:

• what your emergency is — what is happening that needs the police to attend?
• where the emergency is — where do the police need to go?
• how long ago it happened
• what is happening now
• to confirm your name, address and contact details.

• Where is the person causing concern now?
• Do they have weapons?
• If that person has left, which way did they go and how did they leave?
• Who are they? What do they look like and how are they dressed?
• What’s the number plate and description of their vehicle?
• What else is happening?

More information — NZ Police

111 Police emergency — NZ Police

Fire emergency call

When there’s fire or smoke, get out and stay out — get to safety.

On the call — fire emergency

On the call, you’ll be asked:

• where the emergency is
• what is happening
• for your nearest intersection or cross-street
• which town or city is nearest to the incident
• if rural, what the name of the property is
• more questions by the call-taker, depending on what is happening.

• What is on fire?
• Are there hazardous substances?
• Is anyone else involved, injured or trapped by the fire?
• Other questions about the incident, as the call-taker gets more information.

More information — Fire and Emergency NZ

What to do if you see a fire — Fire and Emergency NZ

Ambulance emergency call

Be safe: if there are any hazards, try to get away from them before calling.

On the call — ambulance emergency

Based on the nature of your call being either an accident or emergency, you’ll be asked for the:

1. exact address of the emergency
2. confirmation of the phone number you’re calling from — if you have an extension number, give that too
3. details of exactly what happened
4. answers to questions about the person needing care.

• Are you with the patient?
• How old is the patient?
• Is the patient awake?
• Is the patient breathing?

These questions allow the emergency ambulance service to prioritise their response to the most life-threatening incidents.

More information — ambulance services

• St. John Ambulance — Calling an ambulance
• Wellington Free Ambulance — Help in an emergency

Give the exact address on emergency calls

The more information you can give about the emergency’s location, the better. Try to give the:

• house number
• street name
• nearest intersection
• suburb and city — or your Rural Address Property Identification (RAPID) number if you have one
• if you’re on the move, give as many details as you can, such as street names, well-known buildings, bridges and geographical features.

Accessibility option for 111 emergencies

Use ‘111 TXT’.

This service is for people who have difficulty hearing or talking on the phone.

Register for 111 TXT — NZ Police

More information about 111 TXT

Check the NZ Police website for information about:

• using 111 TXT
• 111 TXT Rules
• changing ‘My Registration’.

Overseas emergencies

New Zealand embassies can help you if something goes wrong while you’re outside NZ.

Emergency help when you’re overseas

Teach children about calling 111

Download these fun activities which teach children when to make 111 emergency calls.

111 emergency resources for children — NZ Police

More information — emergency call services

Spark NZ operates the platform for answering initial 111 calls, before sending emergency calls to the right service. Visit the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) website for more information about emergency call services.

Emergency call services — MBIE