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> We were not even sure if it was a venomous snake at this point. We tried calling 911 and could not get through

I'm surprised this doesn't stick out to more people, but I had the same experience in SF. I called 911, and hung up after what seemed like being on hold for 7 minutes.

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That is unbelievable! The UK has the world's oldest emergency telephone service. The service is operated by British Telecom and I think most people have an expectation of the call being answered in mere seconds, every single time.

(Although what however has changed dramatically during the current and past two governments is large increases in response times to an emergency.)

BT connects your emergency call to your nearest control centre, but if that has no lines free it connects to an available line at any other control centre in the UK. The call handler then relays your call manually to the appropriate centre as soon as they can get through.

I hope you weren't bitten by a venomous snake in SF.

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