Advice if you know someone who is vulnerable

If you know someone who is vulnerable, including by age, mental illness and physical health, here are some of the things you can consider in preparation for emergencies:

• Has someone got access to the property and are their details known? This may be a landlord, carers, a family/friend keyholder or the details for the key safe at the property. If possible, the key should be kept with a trusted person closer to the address and contactable on evenings and weekends to enable quick access when concerned.
• Who are the emergency contacts? If you haven’t seen the person for a few days or if there is a concern for them, it is recommended to obtain details of the family, friends or professionals who are involved with the person for ease of contact. Details include a full name and relevant phone numbers as a minimum. The emergency contact may be the same person as the key holder in some situations.
• If you become concerned for someone because you cannot make contact with them, before reporting them as a missing person you should (where applicable):
• Try contacting the person on different platforms (social media, phone, text etc.). Do this at different times of the day to allow time to respond.
• Ring round friends and family.
• Ask neighbours if the person has been seen or anything has been heard from the property, noting the last sighting.
• Ring any professionals who the person has been contact with such as support workers and mental health teams.
• Attend the home address or other relevant address they occasionally stay at, where accessible, search the area, remembering to look in sheds, garages and outbuildings. Check all doors and windows as one may be unlocked or open. If you are unable to attend for any reason, ask someone to go on your behalf such as a friend or neighbour.
• Look for any notes or clues in the person’s home or on their belongings.
• Contact local healthcare providers including local hospitals.
• Check the person’s social media, have they been active online and is there any content that may assist in locating them.
• If the person is in work or education, contact the place to identify if they have been there or any contact has been had.
• Consider whether it is possible the person is somewhere else such as holiday, working away or visiting friends.

If a person is in immediate danger, call 999. If you believe they are experiencing a medical emergency you should request Ambulance.

If you do not believe they are in immediate danger, and you have done what you can to locate them yourselves and are still concerned, contact police on 101 where they will assess whether the person is to be considered as a missing person.

Hearing or speech impairments

If you have a hearing or speech impairment and you’ve pre-registered with the emergencySMS service, you can use our textphone service 18000 or text us on 999.

If you're a British Sign Language (BSL) user, you can call 999 BSL to use a remote BSL interpreter.

Silent 999 calls

If you're in danger but you can't talk on the phone, you should still call 999, then follow these instructions.