red phone

red phone

Global village
Hot Line, Moscow-Washington hotline, red telephone. A communication system between Washington DC and Moscow, which was established after an agreement in 1963 with the signing of the “Memorandum of Understanding Regarding the Establishment of a Direct Communications Line” by US and USSR representatives. The need for such a system was underscored during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October of 1962, during which time it took the US 12 hours to decode Khrushchev’s settlement offer.
Medspeak-UK
A phone in A&E (casualty) departments in the UK, which is used for call-ins from the ambulance service indicating that it is bringing in a patient with serious illness or injuries.