About this project

World Emergency & Hotlines is a public, source-backed directory of crisis, emergency, and support services across countries and territories. Coverage and verification depth vary. We think nobody should have to search in a panic.

If you're in crisis right now

How to use this site

• Search by country, category, or service name (e.g. "Italy domestic violence", "UK childline", "Canada veterans"). Use the filter chips to narrow to verified-only, SMS-accessible, or online-chat services.
• Browse by category — see all 29 categorieswith counts and verification coverage.
• Explore the map — click any country to see all local numbers and crisis lines.
• Country pages show hotlines grouped by category, with a "best available help" panel at the top and a traveller note about international dialling.

How verification works

Every hotline record carries a verification status. It describes the evidence checked for this directory, not whether a line was test-called, answered, or available in real time.

verified web

The listed details appeared on the organisation's official website when checked. This is not a live availability check.

verified authority

The listed details appeared in an authoritative source such as a government body when checked.

verified knowledge

Checked against a trusted reference source, but not necessarily the provider's own page.

cross referenced

Found in multiple independent sources but not yet confirmed against the provider or responsible authority.

legacy unverified

From an earlier dataset. Has not been independently confirmed. Please check the organisation's official website before relying on this number.

disputed

Conflicting information found. Treat with caution — the number may be wrong.

deprecated

Believed to be no longer active. Included for reference.

Coverage and checked dates

A country can have national coverage while still lacking a verified local or specialist option. City, county, state/province, national, and global service areas are shown separately where the source supports them. A “source checked” date records when the cited page supported the listed details; it does not promise current opening hours, wait time, eligibility, or that the service answered a test contact.

If a local option is unavailable, the directory may show a broader regional or national fallback. Report disconnected numbers, changed hours, scope errors, closures, or other concerns from the relevant service card.

Best-available routing

On each country page, the site automatically selects the "best available help" — a verified crisis line if one exists, falling back to verified mental health support, then to unverified lines if that's all we have. This is surfaced prominently so that someone in distress doesn't need to scan a long list.

The same logic applies to the search: when you type a country + category, verified lines rank higher. Filter chips let you explicitly restrict results to verified or channel-specific services.

Travellers & expats

Most freephone/toll-free numbers require a local SIM or network connection for the country. If you're abroad:

• 112 reaches emergency services in most countries even without a SIM.
• Look for hotlines with online chat (💬) — these work internationally over Wi-Fi.
• SMS-based lines (📱) may also work internationally depending on your roaming plan.
• Hotel staff and local emergency numbers will always have up-to-date local contacts.

Privacy

The search runs entirely in your browser — your search terms and results never leave your device. No queries are logged. The emergency banner reads your browser language setting only (no server call, no location). We don't use tracking cookies or analytics that identify individuals.

Public data access & contributing

The dataset is publicly accessible from the data pagein JSON format. The repository currently has no license, so access does not itself grant reuse rights. Public submissions are review leads, not verified records, and publication is not guaranteed.