Emergency Calls: Useful English Phrases and Vocabulary

Learn English for describing an emergency, giving your location, and asking for help on the phone. This free A1 lesson for adult beginners includes 17 interactive slides with vocabulary audio, an emergency-call video, quizzes, caller and operator dialogues, sentence-building tasks, and speaking practice. It also introduces the grammar patterns there is and there are.

What you will learn

• Say what the emergency is in simple English.
• Give your name, address, and location.
• Understand and answer short questions.
• Ask for help and name emergency services.
• Practice a short emergency phone call with a partner.

Emergency vocabulary in English

The warm-up revisits a pharmacy conversation from the previous lesson. Listen and unscramble the health vocabulary before moving on to the situation pictures. Describe what you see using words such as a car accident and a house on fire.

Use the picture and audio cards to practice these key words:

The vocabulary cards also introduce accident, fire, break-in, theft, choking, and breathe. Practice the action words call, report, help, and hurt in short sentences.

Naming emergency services

The lesson introduces three service groups: police, fire department, and ambulance. You will also hear fire brigade, fire truck, and paramedics.

Use the service cards to connect vocabulary with the situations shown. The police card includes crime and break-in words, the fire department card includes building fires and rescues, and the ambulance card includes medical emergency vocabulary. Practice saying I need an ambulance. and I need help.

Understanding the operator's questions

Listen to these phrases and repeat them aloud:

• What's your emergency?
• Tell me what happened.
• What is your location?
• What's your address?
• Is anyone injured?
• Are you safe?

Stay on the line means continue the phone call. Help is on the way and Paramedics are on their way mean that help is coming. Practice recognizing these expressions in the vocabulary audio and dialogues.

Giving your name and location in English

Practice your name and an example address before the role-play. Start with My name is ..., then use a short location sentence:

• My address is 125 Main Street, apartment 3B.
• I am on Elm Street.
• I am at Main Street and 5th Street.

The examples practice a street address, an apartment number, and an intersection. Say the numbers and street names clearly. Take turns asking Where are you? and answering with a different example location.

Grammar practice: there is and there are

Use there is with one thing and there are with more than one. These patterns help you describe the situation in the lesson pictures.

• There is a fire. One fire: there is + a + singular noun.
• There is an accident. One accident: there is + an + singular noun.
• There are injured people. More than one person: there are + plural noun.

There's is the short form of there is. Practice There's a fire in my apartment building. Notice the irregular plural one person, two people. Describe each picture with a complete sentence before checking your answer.

A short emergency-call role-play

Operator: What is your emergency?
Caller: There is a car accident.
Operator: Where are you?
Caller: I am at Main Street and 5th Street.
Operator: Is anyone hurt?
Caller: Yes. One person is hurt.

This classroom example practices the situation, location, and a short answer. Use a pretend call with a partner and switch roles. Change the location or describe one of the other lesson pictures.

The second audio dialogue describes a fire in an apartment building. Listen for Is everyone outside? and Some people are still inside. Compare inside and outside, then practice the question and answer.

Listening to an emergency phone call

Watch the video once to understand the situation. The caller requests an ambulance and describes what happened to her father. Listen for the questions, the address, and the phrase Help is on the way.

Watch again in quiz mode. Choose answers about the service requested, the father's condition, a detail from his medical history, and the information the operator asks for. Replay short sections to practice recognizing questions and giving concise answers.

Emergency numbers in the lesson

The regional examples use different numbers. The table includes links to official information for each place:

Practice saying the digits aloud: nine-one-one, nine-nine-nine, and one-one-two.

Practice with the interactive lesson

1. Complete the pharmacy listening warm-up and describe the situation pictures.
2. Watch the emergency-call video and answer its quiz questions.
3. Listen to the vocabulary cards and identify the service words.
4. Practice the accident and apartment-building dialogues.
5. Describe pictures with there is and there are.
6. Rearrange words to build sentences, then share a short practice call.

The closing tips remind learners to listen carefully, keep replies short and precise, check understanding, and speak calmly. In your role-play, use Could you repeat that, please? when you need to hear a question again. Finish by sharing one new word or phrase.

Review pharmacy vocabulary and conversations in Lesson 17, or explore more free A1 English teaching materials.