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EMERGENCY SERVICES IN FRANCE
There are three main emergency
services in France: the SAMU (Service d'Aide Médicale
d'Urgence), the fire brigade and the police.
The SAMU is the national,
publicly run emergency service that deals only with very
serious medical problems, with a central control centres:
The centres are operated by people from the medical
profession, who control and co-ordinate all urgent medical
calls for help. They coordinate a range of facilities, from
a SAMU affiliated doctor being dispatched or the SMUR
(service mobile d’urgence et de réanimation) emergency
team being deployed, to the use of ground and air rescue
methods, i.e. ambulances or helicopters. Ground rescue
services are divided into four subcategories: rescue
vehicles, fire engines, ambulances and mini-ambulances for
transporting people without the need for a stretcher.
The national police force in
France is divided between the Police Nationale and
the gendarmerie. Very broadly, the Police Nationale
is reponsible for urban areas, and is a civilian
organization, while the gendarmerie covers the rural
regions, and is a military group. In large towns and
villages there is also a secondary police force managed by
the local town hall and with limited powers, called la
police municipale.
The fire brigade,
(les sapeurs pompiers) are largely volunteers except in the
large towns and cities. They not only operate the fire
engines but also the emergency ambulance. Interestingly the
Paris fire Brigade are a part of the Army and the fire
brigade in Marseille is a part of the Navy.
EMERGENCY TELEPHONE NUMBERS
Medical
emergency/accidents/ambulance (SAMU): 15
- The SAMU is the
coordinated service to call in case of any serious
medical emergency.
Fire brigade:
18
- The French fire
brigade, called les sapeurs pompiers, can also be called
in cases of medical emergencies.
Police: 17
- This number
puts you in contact with the police nationale or the
gendarmerie. For non-urgent situations, make a note of
the direct phone number for your nearest police station
(commissariat de police or gendarmerie).
All emergencies from a
mobile phone: 112
- This is the
pan-European emergency number which can be called in any
emergency from your mobile phone. As it's a Europe-wide
number, you can also ask to be connected to an
English-speaking operator.
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