The 911 button? how is it set up?

[Clare Johnstone]

Hi all,
Just looking at the  information on the Wiki about the hardware,
I got curious about the so-called 911 button. I am supposing it is for
emergency calls, but is my country (Australia) alone in not using
that number for emergencies?
Looking up what we do use, I found:

http://www.telstra.com.au/mobile/life/community/emergency.htm#
<quote>
You can still attempt a normal '000'emergency call from a GSM mobile
but if you do not have reception, you can dial '112' and your call
will be carried by any available GSM network.
<endquote>

I also wonder  about how it is protected from non-emergency
presses, it apparently being the only button other than the power
button.

With many thanks for all that has been done so far..
clare