Medical emergencies in France: who to call and what to expect

1. The emergency numbers

Every number below is free, works from any phone including a foreign mobile, and answers around the clock. You do not need a French SIM card, and you do not need credit on your phone.

• 15 — the SAMU, the French emergency medical dispatch. This is the number for anything medical.
• 112 — the European emergency number, valid throughout the European Union. Use it if you are not sure which service you need, or if you would rather try in English: the European Commission notes that operators in many countries can take the call in English, though no French official source confirms it for France.
• 114 — the emergency number for people who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing or unable to speak. It works by video in French sign language, by chat and by text message, through the urgence114.fr website or the Urgence 114 application, and relays to the medical, police and fire services.
• 18 — the fire brigade (sapeurs-pompiers), who in France are also first responders and give first aid, in particular for accidents, falls, fires and road collisions.
• 17 — the police, for an assault, an incident involving someone else, or a situation that is a matter of public safety.

Whichever number you dial, the person answering needs three things quickly: where you are, what happened, and how the person is — conscious or not, breathing or not, bleeding or not. Give the full address, the floor and the door code if you are in a building, or the road number and the direction you were travelling if you are outdoors. Then stay on the line: the call handler will tell you when to hang up, and may talk you through what to do while help is on its way.

2. What counts as a medical emergency

Call 15 or 112 without hesitating for any of the following:

• chest pain, or pain spreading to the arm, the jaw or the back;
• sudden difficulty breathing;
• signs of a stroke — a drooping face, an arm that cannot be raised, speech that is slurred or makes no sense — even if the signs pass;
• loss of consciousness, a seizure, or someone who cannot be woken;
• bleeding that does not stop under firm pressure;
• a severe allergic reaction: swelling of the face or throat, hives spreading quickly, difficulty swallowing;
• a fever in a baby under three months, or a child who is unusually drowsy or floppy;
• suspected poisoning, whether by a medicine, a household product, a plant or a mushroom.

The list is not exhaustive, and it is not a test you have to pass before you are allowed to call. If you find yourself hesitating, the hesitation is itself a reason to dial 15: judging the situation is the dispatcher's job, not yours, and nobody will reproach you for a call that turns out to be a false alarm.

3. How the SAMU works

Calling 15 does not simply summon an ambulance. The call reaches a médecin régulateur, a doctor whose role is to assess the situation over the phone and choose the response. That choice can be any of these:

• sending a SMUR team — a mobile intensive care unit with a doctor on board — for a life-threatening situation;
• sending the fire brigade or an ambulance to bring the person to hospital;
• directing you to the emergency department of a named hospital, sometimes not the nearest one, because it has the right unit free;
• directing you to a duty doctor at a maison médicale de garde, when the problem is real but does not call for a hospital;
• giving advice over the phone, with instructions on what to watch for and when to call back.

This triage is why calling 15 first is often better than heading straight to a hospital. The dispatcher knows which units are open and which are saturated, can warn the receiving team that you are on your way, and can spare you hours of waiting in a department that was never the right destination.

4. At the emergency department

French hospital emergency departments are signposted Urgences. Arrival follows a fixed sequence, and knowing it in advance makes the wait easier to bear.

Triage. A nurse sees you first, takes the vital signs and assigns a degree of severity. That degree, and not the order of arrival, decides when you are seen. Someone who arrives after you may well be treated before you; it is not an oversight.

Waiting. Waiting times vary enormously, from minutes for a critical case to several hours for a stable one. If the person's condition changes while you wait, tell the reception desk straight away rather than waiting your turn.

What to have with you. An identity document or passport; your European Health Insurance Card, your GHIC or your travel insurance details; a list of your current medication, ideally with the boxes or a photograph of the prescription; and the name of any allergy. If you take an anticoagulant, say so immediately and repeat it at every stage.

Afterwards. You leave with a discharge document summarising what was found and done, and with any prescription. The invoice usually comes separately, sometimes by post several weeks later, to the address you gave — so give an address where mail will actually reach you.

5. Particular situations

Children

Large cities have paediatric emergency departments, separate from the adult ones and staffed accordingly; the dispatcher on 15 will name the right one. A fever in a baby under three months, a child who is unusually drowsy, or a rash that does not fade when pressed under a glass are reasons to call 15 rather than to wait and see.

Suspected poisoning

France has nine regional poison control centres (centres antipoison), open around the clock, each attached to the hospitals of its area. Call 15, which will put you through to the right one, or contact the centre for the region you are in directly. Keep the packaging, the plant or the mushroom: identifying the substance changes the advice completely. If the person is unconscious or is not breathing, call 15 first, immediately.

Dental emergencies

Outside opening hours, duty dentists are organised by the departmental council of the Ordre des chirurgiens-dentistes. The SAMU on 15 can tell you who is on duty nearby; hospital emergency departments do not generally treat dental pain themselves.

Eye injuries

A chemical splash in the eye is rinsed at once with plenty of clean water, for a full fifteen minutes, before anything else — then call 15. Large cities have ophthalmic emergency units. Sudden loss of vision, a curtain across part of the field of view, or flashes accompanied by floaters are reasons to be seen the same day.

Mental health crisis

3114 is the national suicide prevention number. It is free, open around the clock everywhere in France, and answered by trained health professionals — nurses and psychologists — who listen, assess the situation and can involve the emergency services when that is needed. It can be called for yourself or for someone you are worried about. If a person is in immediate physical danger, call 15.

6. If you are in Monaco

Monaco is a sovereign state and is not part of France, so it runs its own emergency organisation. In the Principality, the number to dial is 112. It is free, it works from any phone including a foreign mobile, and it covers medical emergencies as well as fire and rescue. For any emergency while you are in Monaco, dial 112.

7. After the emergency

Keep every document. The discharge document, the invoice when it arrives, the pharmacy receipts and any prescription are what an insurer will ask for, and a claim rarely succeeds without a dated invoice carrying the identification of the doctor or the hospital. Photograph each document as you receive it: paper travels badly.

Arrange the follow-up. An emergency department deals with the immediate problem; it does not follow you afterwards. Yet a good deal often remains to be done — test results that arrive after you have left, a treatment started in hospital that needs adjusting, a dressing to be checked, or a sick note that an employer or an insurer requires. That follow-up belongs with a general practitioner, and it can be arranged in person or, when the doctor considers it appropriate, by video teleconsultation.

DotKtor connects international visitors with independent doctors registered in France for such follow-up consultations, subject to medical availability. It has no role in an emergency: an emergency is a call to 15, or to 112.

Following up by video after an emergency

Once the emergency itself is behind you, a follow-up consultation can often be held from where you are staying rather than in a waiting room. DotKtor connects international visitors with independent doctors registered in France for video consultations; the interface is available in English, French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, the consultation is subject to medical availability, and the fee is shown before booking. A teleconsultation is not for emergencies: in an emergency, call 15 or 112.

Book a follow-up video consultation

Local information pages, city by city:

• Nice
• Paris
• Cannes
• Marseille
• Lyon
• Antibes

Frequently asked questions

Is calling 15 free?

Yes. 15, 112, 114, 17 and 18 are all free, from any phone, including a foreign mobile and a phone with no credit left. No French SIM card is needed.

Do I need insurance to be treated at the emergency department?

No. Public hospitals in France treat everyone who arrives, whatever their nationality or insurance situation. Insurance decides who pays afterwards, not whether you are treated.

Can I be turned away?

A public emergency department cannot turn away someone who needs emergency care. What can happen, after triage, is being directed elsewhere — to a duty doctor, for instance — because the situation does not call for hospital emergency care.

Will anyone speak English?

On the 112 line, the European Commission notes that operators in many countries can take calls in English; no French official source confirms it for France. Inside a hospital it varies and cannot be assumed, so bring a written summary of the problem, your medication and your allergies, in French if you can manage it. Where a consultation with a doctor able to speak a given language is needed, that remains subject to medical availability.

How long is the wait at the emergency department?

There is no standard answer: triage puts the most serious cases first, so a stable problem can mean several hours. Tell the reception desk immediately if the person's condition changes while you are waiting.

Should I go to the emergency department for a fever?

A fever on its own, in an adult who is otherwise well, rarely calls for the emergency department; a pharmacist or a general practitioner is usually the right first step. A fever in a baby under three months, or a fever with confusion, a stiff neck or a rash that does not fade under pressure, is a reason to call 15.

What is the emergency number in Monaco?

In Monaco, dial 112. The Principality is a sovereign state with its own emergency organisation, and 112 covers medical emergencies as well as fire and rescue there.

Can a teleconsultation replace the emergency department?

No. A video consultation cannot examine you, cannot run tests and cannot send help to where you are. A teleconsultation has no role in an emergency: in an emergency, call 15 or 112. It is useful afterwards, for the follow-up.