Your experience with medical emergency number in thialand

[villageidiotY2K]

Hello peeps, as the subject has anyone actually called their emrgency number? I think for medical 1669.

Suppose if i got a sudden hernia and couldnt move, im quite concerned what would happen if i call them.

 

Can they speak english? 

Is it stressful & trouble some to explain ur current address? (can i just name the condo and they can figure it out by themselves?)

Will they arrive within 10 min?

They will send the patient to the nearest hospital or can I choose?

Will there be charge for transport cost etc?

 

I just dont feel much condifent with their service. I might be wrong. But pls share ur experiences if any. 

Thanks

 

 

 

oh if i call them just to check their reponse, will i be in trouble??

[Nemises]

57 minutes ago, villageidiotY2K said:

But pls share ur experiences if any

Staying friendly with a nurse helps. 

[poppysdad]

Many years ago my English wife collapsed at our home, I used the emergency number but they spoke little English. I rushed next door to where a Thai lady lived and she directed them to our house with ease.  
Earlier this year I collapsed at home but my Thai wife was there to help me and they were at our house in minutes. The moral being have a friendly Thai person either on your phone or living close by. 

[soi3eddie]

A good question. What should I do if I or a guest felt unwell or collapsed in my condo? Call 1669 or the local hospital?

 

[mamypoko]

I downloaded the 'i lert you' app, but have yet to try

[JimHuaHin]

Many good questions.   I shall attempt to answer most of them from my experience.

 

Call hospital or ambulance?  Is the medical emergency life-threatening or not?  How close is your preferred hospital?  Unless your preferred hospital is less than, say, 5-10 kms away, I would call 1669.

 

I live about 13 kms from downtown Hua Hin.  I have registered at the 4 closest hospitals - 2 government, 2 private.

 

About 12 months ago I had a non life-threatening medical emergency, I called 1669.  A Thai(?) women answered the phone after about 10 seconds.  She spoke some English, but she put on another Thai(?) woman who spoke good English.  She understood my condition, and took some basic personal details.  I had to describe EXACTLY where I was, and clear precise details on how to get to my location.  (Probably knowing my exact LA and LONG coordinates from Google Maps would have helped). (If you live in a condo or gated community, I would suggest that you have the phone number of the front desk or security, and inform them that an ambulance is coming; or get them to call the ambulance for you.)

 

I got out of my wallet the hospital card of the hospital I wanted to go to.

 

About 10 minutes later the ambulance arrived.  The driver asked in English if I spoke Thai, I replied "no", he seemed upset.  The paramedic then came and asked me the same question, I answered the same.  I asked if she spoke English; she replied "very little" - but actually her English was good.

 

After describing my medical condition, my vitals were taken.   I gave the paramedic my hospital card and I was placed in the ambulance, arriving at the hospital about 20 minutes later.

 

I am still alive, I think.

 

Good luck, I hope this helps.

[simon43]

So.... one of the most important life-savers for foreigners is to learn to speak Thai! 🙂

[villageidiotY2K]

1 hour ago, JimHuaHin said:

Many good questions.   I shall attempt to answer most of them from my experience.

 

Call hospital or ambulance?  Is the medical emergency life-threatening or not?  How close is your preferred hospital?  Unless your preferred hospital is less than, say, 5-10 kms away, I would call 1669.

 

I live about 13 kms from downtown Hua Hin.  I have registered at the 4 closest hospitals - 2 government, 2 private.

 

About 12 months ago I had a non life-threatening medical emergency, I called 1669.  A Thai(?) women answered the phone after about 10 seconds.  She spoke some English, but she put on another Thai(?) woman who spoke good English.  She understood my condition, and took some basic personal details.  I had to describe EXACTLY where I was, and clear precise details on how to get to my location.  (Probably knowing my exact LA and LONG coordinates from Google Maps would have helped). (If you live in a condo or gated community, I would suggest that you have the phone number of the front desk or security, and inform them that an ambulance is coming; or get them to call the ambulance for you.)

 

I got out of my wallet the hospital card of the hospital I wanted to go to.

 

About 10 minutes later the ambulance arrived.  The driver asked in English if I spoke Thai, I replied "no", he seemed upset.  The paramedic then came and asked me the same question, I answered the same.  I asked if she spoke English; she replied "very little" - but actually her English was good.

 

After describing my medical condition, my vitals were taken.   I gave the paramedic my hospital card and I was placed in the ambulance, arriving at the hospital about 20 minutes later.

 

I am still alive, I think.

 

Good luck, I hope this helps.

thanks for ur input, are these emergency vehicles those that are from the nearest foundation group?

also were u charged any costs? 

[john donson]

21 hours ago, poppysdad said:

Many years ago my English wife collapsed at our home, I used the emergency number but they spoke little English. I rushed next door to where a Thai lady lived and she directed them to our house with ease.  
Earlier this year I collapsed at home but my Thai wife was there to help me and they were at our house in minutes. The moral being have a friendly Thai person either on your phone or living close by. 

 

wow, if both of you collapse, time to head home for NHS ?

 

seriously... I am thinking to move back if I get chronically ill but my lovely country gives free medicare to illegals, but home returners have to wait 6 months.... what a wonderful world it is

[JimHuaHin]

21 hours ago, villageidiotY2K said:

thanks for ur input, are these emergency vehicles those that are from the nearest foundation group?

also were u charged any costs? 

You are welcome.

 

With respect to your first question - I do not know, maybe it was the closest available ambulance.

 

With respect to the second question - an itemised receipt was received after the hospital bill was paid; it did not include any reference to ambulance service, just ER services, medical tests and medications.

[simon43]

Many years ago when I was a TPV in Phuket I had to call 1669 on a couple of occasions when a member of the public had a motorbike accident etc. 

 

On both occasions, the person who answered the phone did not speak English.  Luckily I can speak Thai, so no problems.

 

Moral of the story - Learn to speak Thai!!

[TroubleandGrumpy]

Get registered at the local Hospital you want to be taken to if you have an emergency/accident. Ask them how to call an ambulance that will bring you here if ever needed.  If you live in Bangkok then you will have a problem in traffic - know exactly where the closest Hospital is - and register there.   If the 'ambulance' is not from the hospital and is a 'private contractor', do not let them take you to a private hospital - the charges will be horrendous, and they take you there because the private hospital will pay them a lot more than the local Thai ones. 

Good to see some Expats thinking ahead about medical problems, that will happen as they get older - it happens to us all. Living in a remote village or on a nice island has it ups, but the downside is a medical emergency. I reckon Shane Warne would still be alive if he had that heart attack in a city location and they were able to get him there quickly. 

[Tropicalevo]

Wifey died in her sleep, in bed next to me a few years back.

I called emergency numbers but no one was really awake (04:00) and spoke little English.

Then I realised that no one would find us anyway so I woke up friends next door.

Drove her to the hospital ourselves.

To be fair, I was a tad shell-shocked and probably not really with it all.

She was only 55 and her dying first was never in my 'end of life' plans.

[Sheryl]

As others have said, if you have a preferred hospital, get their emergency ambulance number.

 

Otherwise call 1669. Do not expect them to speak any English, and you will need to provide very exact information on your locations. (Actually, if you learn nothing else in Thai, you should learn how to direct people to your home.Helps with deliveries as well). 

 

An alternative is to have a Thai friend or neighbor call ambulance for you.  Even if you do not have any Thai friends, you could ask an English speaking Thai neighbor if you could call them in an emergency, most will agree. Then keep that number prominently near/in your phone.

 

When ambulance arrives, they may not speak any English either. Ambulances here are not like in the west, limited first aid ability but they'll get you to a hospital.

 

How long it will take them to arrive depends on where you are, where the nearest ambulance is, traffic and how clear the directions provided were.

 

As it sounds like you are in a Condo do nto forget to also alert guard/front desk. Ditto gate if in a gated community. So have those numbers on you as well.

[khlongtoey]

will they even treat you without making a large deposit in the E.D.  , so what is a good alternative to a "private hospital" in Central Sukhumwit to register with?  for "costs"

[Sheryl]

8 hours ago, khlongtoey said:

will they even treat you without making a large deposit in the E.D.  , so what is a good alternative to a "private hospital" in Central Sukhumwit to register with?  for "costs"

Chulalongkorn Hospital (government hospital).  Not on Sukhumvit but not far (Silom area)

[Sheryl]

Does anyone know if it is possible to text to 1669?

[JimHuaHin]

46 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

Does anyone know if it is possible to text to 1669?

Excellent question.  I have never tried.  I await responses from the group.

[poppysdad]

Regarding the abilities of the ambulance crews, perhaps I was just lucky as according to my Thai wife I did die in the back of the ambulance on the way to the government hospital which thankfully is very close by. Apparently they managed to bring me back and get me into the emergency department although I knew nothing about anything until I came to in the icu the following day with all sorts of tubes stuffed down my throat and up my nose and strangely both hands tied down to the side of the bed to stop me from trying to remove everything. 
As far as costs go for the ambulance service here I’m not aware of being charged anything but then my Thai wife took care of everything but when my English wife died many years ago now back in another province it was suggested to me by Thai friends that I give the crew 1000 baht towards their running costs. 

[Sheryl]

I would like to add that in addition to being able to give complete detailed address and directions, in Thai, to the emergency services you  need to give some thought to how they can enter your home if you live alone and are incapacitated.  Someone nearby needs to have a key.

 

(And if your condition is such that you can get to the door yourself, you might do better to just get a taxi/Grab/Bolt to ER in first place)

 

Living alone, important to  cultivate friendships with your neighbors. 

[khlongtoey]

On 7/2/2024 at 7:17 AM, Sheryl said:

Chulalongkorn Hospital (government hospital).  Not on Sukhumvit but not far (Silom area)

 

so, do I need to visit Chula Hospital to register with them?  or any hints how to get "registered"    and/or with Samtivej or Bumrumgrad,

 

can it be done by phone or some other method? any personal clues , thanks

[Sheryl]

49 minutes ago, khlongtoey said:

 

so, do I need to visit Chula Hospital to register with them?  or any hints how to get "registered"    and/or with Samtivej or Bumrumgrad,

 

can it be done by phone or some other method? any personal clues , thanks

 

Registration at any hospital is a simple matter of going, in person with your passport and requesting it. Usually have to fill out a short form (Address and phone number in Thailand, emergency contact person etc).

 

After that you get a patient number. Note that this has nothing to do with payment for care.

 

While it is not necessary to be registered at a hospital to be brought there in an emergency, it does save time.

 

Samitivej and Bumrungrad both have their own ambulance services.  Care at both - especially in an emergency -- can be extremely expensive. Not advised if uninsured unless very wealthy. They will demand payment of a deposit upfront before treating.

[digbeth]

I don't seem to see local government hospital having large fleet of ambulance, so calling the local hospital might not be a good idea, whereas 1669 can also dispatch the emergency rescue services (foundations) as well, plus I'd hope that the 1669 call center might be better manned than the hospital's front desk

 

I've seem to read somewhere that 1669 call centre are volunteer from the mobile phone operators, so they might be able to communicate in English

[PeterA]

I got different numbers from a Thai gov website: 1669 is for snake removal, and 191 was for emergencies. How many different numbers are there?

[Sheryl]

15 minutes ago, digbeth said:

 

I've seem to read somewhere that 1669 call centre are volunteer from the mobile phone operators, so they might be able to communicate in English

 

Don't count on it - -especially if you live upcountry.

[Sheryl]

1 minute ago, PeterA said:

I got different numbers from a Thai gov website: 1669 is for snake removal, and 191 was for emergencies. How many different numbers are there?

191 is the general police/fire  emergency number

1669 is the medical emergency number

Are you sure that site did not mean snake bite rather than snake removal?  The 1669 folk will not remove a snake.  There is usually a snake remover in every village/district.

 

In Bangkok, Chaing Mai, Pattaya, Hua Hin etc calling Tourist Police is also an option, they will speak English and can help relay your problme to the appropriate people  1155

 

[digbeth]

ฺIt used to be that upcountry is 1669 but in Bangkok there's also 1646, which is run by Bangkok City Administration, 

but from what I've seen BMA hospital. some are quite nice and new are a lot less equipped and staffed than proper government hospital 

 

I'm sure the ambulance can deliver patient to the closest even private hospital as that's the law but for a foreigner? 

[Sheryl]

13 minutes ago, digbeth said:

ฺIt used to be that upcountry is 1669 but in Bangkok there's also 1646, which is run by Bangkok City Administration, 

but from what I've seen BMA hospital. some are quite nice and new are a lot less equipped and staffed than proper government hospital 

 

I'm sure the ambulance can deliver patient to the closest even private hospital as that's the law but for a foreigner? 

 

You do usually want to avoid a BMA hospital

 

Ambulance can certainly take a foreigner to a private hospital but if uninsured you need to consider if you can afford it.