What Number Do You Call In A Medical Emergency?

[everydaysthesame]

I feel a bit stupid asking this, since I have lived here for a good few years. But, what number am I supposed to call in a medical emergency?

Should I call the number of my hospital of choice? A general all purpose emergency number (like in the UK)? Or, Samui Rescue? Or what?

I was just thinking that if there was a life or death situation, I wouldn't immediately know what to do, which is a bit worrying.

[ThaidDown]

1669 is the national number. If you want to use a particular hospital suggest you register there in advance and keep their number on your person with a note in Thai to call them in an emergency.

Major hospitals have their own ambulances.

Of course if you are far from home when the emergency occurs 1669 may have to be used.

[yorkie100]

Samui Rescue no. is 077 421 444

Tourist Police no. is 1155

[robsamui]

All good advice.

I think for general road accidents, unless you have an arrangement with your own expensive private hospital, then Samui Rescue is excellent.

Nothing but good reports, and on several occasions I've seen them in action on the scene.

(Tho fortunately I have yet to experience their service personally.)

R

Edited February 12, 2013 by robsamui

[lazygourmet]

Samui Rescue no. is 077 421 444

Tourist Police no. is 1155

+ your bank manager direct line

[yorkie100]

Samui Rescue no. is 077 421 444

Tourist Police no. is 1155

+ your bank manager direct line

Sorry? Don't understand your comment.

[Rooo]

I have several numbers compiled in this pinned topic HERE.

[candypants]

having called rescue services on Koh Phangan after watching a Russian kid break his neck while driving his motorcycle pissed and calling the police, rescue services and a private hospital to assist and subsequently watching him die in the hour it took any of them to arrive, I would say it doesn't really matter who you call.

Edited February 12, 2013 by candypants

[Sheryl]

I strongly advise against calling police OR Samui Rescue.

Thailand does not have a medical emergency transport system like most countries. The various Rescue services are private, and may take kick backs to route patients to certain hospitals.

Decide in advance which hospital you wish to go to and get its ambulance number.

Then call that if you aren't able to travel by taxi to the hospital yourself. (Taxi will get you there quicker than waiting for the ambulance).

[Boater]

having called rescue services on Koh Phangan after watching a Russian kid break his neck while driving his motorcycle pissed and calling the police, rescue services and a private hospital to assist and subsequently watching him die in the hour it took any of them to arrive, I would say it doesn't really matter who you call.

Would agree here , best thing to do is find a Thai person and try to explain and get them to call ... Even if you get through ( most times no one answers the above lines ) they won't understand or giving directions / locations is me impossible unless you are fluent in Thai

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

[yorkie100]

I strongly advise against calling police OR Samui Rescue.

Thailand does not have a medical emergency transport system like most countries. The various Rescue services are private, and may take kick backs to route patients to certain hospitals.

Decide in advance which hospital you wish to go to and get its ambulance number.

Then call that if you aren't able to travel by taxi to the hospital yourself. (Taxi will get you there quicker than waiting for the ambulance).

I believe your advice not to ring the emergency service numbers in the event of an accident is ill-advised and irresponsible, as is your comment about 'kick backs'.

I can assure you that Samui Rescue will take you (if the accident victim is conscious and able to voice a preference) to the hospital of your choice.

The whole service is voluntarily funded and does not take payments for delivering victims to a particular hospital.

As to calling the police, if an accident has occurred involving injury it is essential the police are notified in case a criminal act has taken place.

In Thailand, if it is a motor accident you are not even supposed to move the vehicles involved, even to the side of the road until the police have arrived.

[evadgib]

I strongly advise against calling police OR Samui Rescue.

Thailand does not have a medical emergency transport system like most countries. The various Rescue services are private, and may take kick backs to route patients to certain hospitals.

Decide in advance which hospital you wish to go to and get its ambulance number.

Then call that if you aren't able to travel by taxi to the hospital yourself. (Taxi will get you there quicker than waiting for the ambulance).

This may apply elsewhere but you're doing them a disservice here.

Edited February 12, 2013 by evadgib

[Sheryl]

All right, perhaps they are unusual. If they truly will take you to your choice of hospital, fine.

I would still advise when possible to take a taxi as it is quicker.

And Yorkie the discussion is not regarding accidents but medical emergencies in general.

[yorkie100]

All right, perhaps they are unusual. If they truly will take you to your choice of hospital, fine.

I would still advise when possible to take a taxi as it is quicker.

And Yorkie the discussion is not regarding accidents but medical emergencies in general.

Indeed and my first post gave the Samui Rescue phone number who can be called for ALL medical emergencies.

I gave the tourist police number (NOT the Thai police number) as I assumed the OP may not be a Thai speaker and they could help with translation or even call the medical or other emergency services on their behalf.

In relation to vehicle accidents Samui Rescue are equipped with the 'Jaws of Life' hydraulic lifting and cutting equipment to release anyone trapped in a vehicle. A taxi driver would not be much help there.

You may also be interested to know that Samui Rescue will also attend and help in many non-medical related instances, just one example is that they were called to help remove a snake from a kitchen.

[BigC]

Samui rescue 077-421-444

If rescue are notified and it is a road accident then they shall inform the police unless the victim has crashed by oneself in other words not into another vehicle or person

Example if soneone lost it on a corner

[BigC]

There is a big opening festival in wat plai leam temple 19th morning for Samui rescue where they are blessing new vehicles and new members for a new team from the main land that has come to help with accidents in Samui also charity run

This is to help with the large numbers of accidents on the island and cover more points on the island to cut the response times down

All are volunteers and do not get salaries

[paulchiangmai]

I have several numbers compiled in this pinned topic HERE.

That's great, is there a similar list for Chiang Mai.

[Tropicalevo]

The number of types of different 'emergencies' means that this is not a one line answer.

Most accidents/illnesses happen in the home. Depending on where you live - the ambulances probably won't even be able to find you. Out here in the pointy bits of the island I use a simple system.

Have a couple of friends who live nearby on speed dial. They should have a car - or be able to drive yours if you have one. If anything goes titts up - call the friend and get them to take you to hospital. If you have no friends that can drive - then get friendly with a local taxi driver who knows where you live. Put him on speed dial.

In case of an accident - it depends on where you are. If near home - call the friends/taxi.

Worse case scenario - call Samui Rescue or the tourist police. It all depends on location. Why try and get an ambulance to take you to say Bangkok General if you have an accident in Nathon?

The money/bank manager issue is relevant. I took a neighbour to Bangkok Genereal (at her request) and they would not treat her until I paid up front for the treatment. (She had collapsed in the street with dengue fever! Yes - she also had insurance!)

Edited February 12, 2013 by Tropicalevo

[BigC]

The number of types of different 'emergencies' means that this is not a one line answer.

Most accidents/illnesses happen in the home. Depending on where you live - the ambulances probably won't even be able to find you. Out here in the pointy bits of the island I use a simple system.

Have a couple of friends who live nearby on speed dial. They should have a car - or be able to drive yours if you have one. If anything goes titts up - call the friend and get them to take you to hospital. If you have no friends that can drive - then get friendly with a local taxi driver who knows where you live. Put him on speed dial.

In case of an accident - it depends on where you are. If near home - call the friends/taxi.

Worse case scenario - call Samui Rescue or the tourist police. It all depends on location. Why try and get an ambulance to take you to say Bangkok General if you have an accident in Nathon?

The money/bank manager issue is relevant. I took a neighbour to Bangkok Genereal (at her request) and they would not treat her until I paid up front for the treatment. (She had collapsed in the street with dengue fever! Yes - she also had insurance!)

samui rescue is most run by local people and they know the island very well. As you can see they drive very fast to accidents even accidents on the mountain. Normally in that situation you would need the help of a passer by to go down the mountain to call someone as the mountains have limited phone signal.

Ones emergancy services know the location they contact via radios and all the teams know about it and go straight to the scene. i have seen some rescue people who work as jungle safri tour drivers and use their 4 wheels for rescue in their spare time

the thais look at this kind of work in the same way as being a monk as to gain merrits so they like to do the best they can

[samuijimmy]

The number of types of different 'emergencies' means that this is not a one line answer.

Most accidents/illnesses happen in the home. Depending on where you live - the ambulances probably won't even be able to find you. Out here in the pointy bits of the island I use a simple system.

Have a couple of friends who live nearby on speed dial. They should have a car - or be able to drive yours if you have one. If anything goes titts up - call the friend and get them to take you to hospital. If you have no friends that can drive - then get friendly with a local taxi driver who knows where you live. Put him on speed dial.

In case of an accident - it depends on where you are. If near home - call the friends/taxi.

Worse case scenario - call Samui Rescue or the tourist police. It all depends on location. Why try and get an ambulance to take you to say Bangkok General if you have an accident in Nathon?

The money/bank manager issue is relevant. I took a neighbour to Bangkok Genereal (at her request) and they would not treat her until I paid up front for the treatment. (She had collapsed in the street with dengue fever! Yes - she also had insurance!)

samui rescue is most run by local people and they know the island very well. As you can see they drive very fast to accidents even accidents on the mountain. Normally in that situation you would need the help of a passer by to go down the mountain to call someone as the mountains have limited phone signal.

Ones emergancy services know the location they contact via radios and all the teams know about it and go straight to the scene. i have seen some rescue people who work as jungle safri tour drivers and use their 4 wheels for rescue in their spare time

the thais look at this kind of work in the same way as being a monk as to gain merrits so they like to do the best they can

Good posts here by Big C and Tropicalevo here... and the original post by the OP..... it was not a stupid question!...... I've been meaning to put emergency numbers on my phone for years, but never got around to it!

One of these Samui Rescue guys lives down the road from me, and takes his volunteer work very seriously. He's related a few stories of rescuing people in the mountains and is always to be seen at events like the Maenam Walking street, or Chinese New Year event, etc...(any large public event) after finishing his "day job".

I believe in extreme cases he even leaves work ....

Three thumbs up for all these guys!

[everydaysthesame]

So thanks for the input everyone. Glad I asked the question now. I have heard some bad things said about Samui Rescue before but it seems the truth is they do a great job.

Hopefully I will never need it but I'll keep samui rescue's number on my phone. I keep imagining coming across an accident at night and not having a clue who to call and the person dying as a result! Probably not so far fetched given the accident rate on this island.

[yorkie100]

The subject of Samui Rescue has been discussed before here:

I think post #21 covers the discussion well and I agree with all it says.

I am not sure if Samui Association Rescue are still operating but Samui Rescue Foundation (separate entities) are the most active with 7 or 8 stations around the island.

[candypants]

So thanks for the input everyone. Glad I asked the question now. I have heard some bad things said about Samui Rescue before but it seems the truth is they do a great job.

Hopefully I will never need it but I'll keep samui rescue's number on my phone. I keep imagining coming across an accident at night and not having a clue who to call and the person dying as a result! Probably not so far fetched given the accident rate on this island.

i knew who to call on phangan, it didnt make much difference, though the kid was done for, i had really hoped that i wouldn't still be standing beside him waiting for someone, anyone, as he died an hour later