Emergency Numbers When Abroad

Posted on Tuesday, July 7th, 2009 at 5:20 am

After recently talking with a client about accessing emergency services around the globe, and also running into this excellent article by Matador Abroad concerning all the ways to access emergency services around the world – we thought it would be a great idea to post this to our blog to support our customers around the globe. Not many people know or realize that simply dialing 911 or 999 wherever you are in the world will get you emergency help – the range of different numbers varies so greatly, that you would need to be a genius to remember all the different combinations.

Of course, remembering the emergency service number for the countries you are traveling to is something that is highly recommended, but if you are visiting numerous countries the list can be quite long. Help, however, is at hand if you are taking your mobile phone with you. GSM networks (which cover most of the mobile phone networks in the world) will automatically route your call if you dial 112 to the nearest emergency service center in that country. As Matador explain “Maybe the most useful thing to have in any country during an emergency is a mobile telephone. The GSM network uses 112 as a world-wide emergency number. When 112 is dialed from a GSM phone, the network will automatically redirect you to the local emergency dispatch, if it’s available.”

If you do not have your mobile phone handy to dial 112, some selected countries are listed below:

* indicates number for Medical service only – do NOT press * when dialling.

North America:

USA and Canada – 911
Mexico – 066, 060, or 080 (some areas direct 911 to local services)

Asia:

China – 999 in most large cities. Elsewhere, 120*
Hong Kong – 999
India – 102
Indonesia – 118/119*. Search and Rescue – 115. Natural disaster – 129
Iran – 110 (112 from mobile)
Israel – 101* (112 from mobile)
Japan and Korea – 119*
Malaysia – 999
Mongolia – 103
Philippines – 117 (112 and 911 redirect to 117)
Saudi Arabia – 997*. Rescue emergency – 911, 112, or 08
Singapore – 995
Thailand – 1669*. “Tourist” police (English speaking) – 1155
UAE – 998* or 999*
Vietnam – 115*

Africa:

Egypt – 123*. Tourist police – 126
Ghana – 999
Morocco – 15*
Nigeria – 199
South Africa – 10177*. Police and Fire – 10111 (112 from mobile)
Zambia – 991* (112 from mobile)
Zimbabwe – 999

Europe:

United Kingdom – 999 or 112
European Union and many other European nations – 112

Oceania:

Australia – 000
New Zealand – 111
Fiji – 911
Vanuatu – 112

Central America and Caribbean:

Guatemala – 120*
Barbados – 511*
Jamaica – 110*
Nicaragua – 118*
Honduras – 199*

South America:

Argentina – 107* (911 will work in certain areas as emergency dispatch)
Bolivia – 118*
Brazil – 192*
Chile – 131*
Colombia – 112 or 123
Paraguay and Uruguay – 911
Suriname – 115
Venezuela – 171

Be sure to check out the full listing of emergency numbers which can be found on Wikipedia, and also the excellent article by Matador Abroad.