Emergency Numbers in Costa Rica

One of the most important things an expat must consider when moving to a new country is accessibility of public facilities. One of the essentials is keeping the emergency number of help centers handy.

In Costa Rica, a different telephone number may be dialed for different types of emergencies. Needless to say, it is best and safest to have a list of the following numbers in an easy-to-find spot in the apartment or in one's mobile phone.

For all types of emergencies, including police, fire, and medical situations, one can dial 911. When calling specifically for an ambulance, the number is 128. When calling to report fire, dial 118. For police assistance, Costa Rica has another set of numbers to call aside from 911.

To call Judicial Police, dial 2222-1365 or 2221-5337. To resolve traffic altercations and other emergencies, call 2222-9330 or 2222-9245. It is good to locate one's embassy in Costa Rica to seek help when dealing with immigration and legal issues.

It is not uncommon to hear about emergencies that have not found timely help just because the necessary number or numbers to be called were not found. All emergency hotlines should then be listed on a clean sheet of paper and placed in a single, easy-to-find spot in the house so everyone in the family will know where to find this list during an emergency. Better yet, these numbers should be saved on everyone's mobile phones.