Emergency services in France

WITH the summer holidays here many people will be driving around France either visiting friends or enjoy a week or two away.

But sometimes things don't run smoothly and should something go wrong and you need to call on the emergency services, a little advanced preparation may help.

If you struggle with the language, or are just not confident of getting your message across in an emergency situation, then the pan-European Union number 112 is worth keeping to hand.

The number allows people to speak to the emergency services in all member states of the EU, although some people claim almost a third of callers get a poor, or no response at all.

You can call the single European emergency call number 112 from all telephones, mobile and fixed line, even if you have no money, calling credit card or even a SIM card.

More specifically you can contact individual emergency services direct, the numbers are:

Fire service/Pompiers: 18
In rural areas the fire service will be run by volunteers, who will not only deal with fires, but members of the team will have medical experience and you will often see them dealing with road accidents and crashes.

Ambulance/SAMU: 15
Each département is home to a SAMU head office, which can be reached by dialling the emergency number, 15.

Police/Gendarmerie: 17
The police service is split between those who serve in larger towns and cities, the police secours, and those who serve in the countryside, the gendarmes.

Maritime rescue/Sauveteurs en Mer: 1616
The volunteer lifesaving association provides rescue at sea, as well as training of sea lifeguards and safety campaigns.

If you want to get a list of chemists in your region then one of the easiest options is to go to Pages Jaunes, type in the word pharmacie and the postal code of your local area.

This will then produce a list of local chemists, as well as provide a map and distances from different locations which are easy to print off and could be kept for future reference.

If you have any other travel tips for readers of the site please feel free to leave a comment below.

Comments

[Lesley]

O Font of all Knowledge!
We have a SFR mobile and a Vodaphone pay as you go mobile that we use in the UK. We live in France and have a France Telecom land line.
When our friends come to France should we communicate to their UK mobiles using FT, SFR or Vodaphone ? Which number should they use for us as I think that all of our calls will have to get routed to the UK and back and charged accordingly. Is this a daft question and the difference only measured in centimes or pennies ?

[Craig McGinty]

Hi Lesley,
Mobile to mobile calls are always going to be the most expensive option, especially if you are calling 'foreign' phones.
Ringing, or calling from, the FT landline is likely to be the best option.
But also make sure you are registered online with your mobile operator as this will enable you to keep track of charges.
Hope this helps, Craig

[Tina Hamilton]

Word of warning for anyone who has kept their UK Pay-as-you-go mobile but are living in France - make sure that you use it occasionally (recommended: one text per month minimum). Vodafone have just cut ours off for "lack of use" with no warning (their customer services said we should have received a text or email - but we got neither). The £40+ credit on the phone has also been conveniently "lost" with the termination of the account. As a mobile customer for over 20 years, needless to say there is a letter winging its way to Vodafone HQ as I type!

[balenciaga]

We live in France and have a France Telecom land line.
When our friends come to France should we communicate to their UK mobiles using FT