This year, the system of a nationwide response to emergencies – the 999 system – is 75 years old, and to mark the milestone of the lifesaving service, Channel 4 are to air a new documentary series entitled, 999: What’s Your Emergency?

And as the channel’s cameras go behind the scenes of 999 control rooms, one thing is evident; there system is “creaking under the weight” of an upsurge in emergency calls.

C4’s press release about the show states that since 2000, the ambulance service has seen an increase of over 70% in 999 calls, and in the period 2010 to 2011, the police have seen a year-on-year increase of over 10% in 999 calls.

In 999: What’s Your Emergency? we’ll get to see what happens over a ten week period with all the emergency services in Blackpool, with the cameras capturing every minutes of the process, from the moment a call is taken at the control centre, to the deployment of whichever service is needed…

In Lancashire alone, the 999 system deals with over 43,000 emergency calls a week, and in the last year in the region, more than half a million people called 999.

C4’s press release adds, “Ambitious and grand in scale, 999:What’s Your Emergency? (w/t) has incredible access across the services to make it a landmark event in Channel 4′s 2012 schedules.

“Featuring compelling characters and desperate and dangerous situations it continues the channel’s commitment to in showing the lives of society’s key workers in a compelling, humane and engaging way with series such as ‘24 Hours in A&E’.

The series is expected to air on the channel later this year.