911 Overseas

[Starp]

Let me preface by clarifying nothing's happened, no rush.

I live in the U.K., and if I was talking to someone in another country (e.g., U.S.) over webcam, and they collapsed... what the hell should I do?
Apparently dialing 911 won't work (I don't feel like trying), and Google's no help. Even if I had their address, how would I contact emergency services, or anyone nearby? If they lived alone I'd have to scream pretty hard into the mic to get through to people outside.

 

[Jamieson 90]

You know that's a very good question which I don't have an answer to, I guess your best bet would be to inform your countries own emergency services and see if they could relay it, but I'm not even sure that would work.

 

[Jamash]

The was a story somewhere about someone in that exact situation and they were able to contact the American authorities from the UK.

I can't remember the details, but from what I could recall they first contacted the British emergency services, explained the situation and gave their friend's address, and then the British Police contacted the relevant, local US Police Department (via the US Embassy in Britain, I think) who were able to check on the person and luckily saved the day.

As long as you make your first point of contact your local emergency services and fully disclose your identity and location, then they will do their best to follow up because even if it was a hoax, they have your verified name and location so everything will come back to you.

 

[Starp]

[...]inform your countries own emergency services[...]

That does seem about the best option. Better than scrambling to Google looking for an email address or something. An unlikely scenario, granted, but I'd still like to be prepared.