Abstract: Emergency call placement methods and apparatus for a mobile telecommunications device in a wireless network are disclosed. The method includes detecting a initiation interaction from a user during a ready mode of the mobile telecommunications device, determining the state of allowed communication based on predetermined user preferences, initiating an alert mode, signaling a remote emergency services call center, determining the position of the mobile telecommunications device, sending the position of the mobile telecommunications device to the emergency services call center. The initiation interaction can be, for example, a predetermined number of taps of a touch screen. This method allows the security center to use a location methodology to locate the user in response to the emergency call. The described mobile telecommunications device is configured to implement the disclosed method, optionally via a downloadable application.