Travel Emergencies: Before and During a Trip

Emergencies While Travelling

At home you know the exits, the language, the emergency number and who to call. On a trip you know none of that, and you may be in a place with risks you have never faced: earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes or political unrest. Fifteen minutes of preparation before you leave covers most of it.

1. Before you travel

Read your foreign ministry's travel advice for the country, and register your trip if your country offers it.
Buy travel insurance that covers medical care, evacuation and the activities you plan. In Europe, carry your European Health Insurance Card as well.
Learn the local emergency number. 112 works in every EU country and many others.
Check the natural hazards of the destination and the season: hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, wildfires, heat.
Save offline: maps of the area, your booking details, the address of your embassy or consulate, and your insurer's emergency number.
Leave your route and a copy of your documents with someone at home.
Take enough regular medicine for the trip and some extra days, in the original packaging, with the prescription.

Carry with you

A paper copy of your passport, kept apart from the original.
Some local cash and a second payment card, kept in a different place.
A power bank and charging cable.
A small flashlight, a whistle and a card with emergency contacts.

2. When you arrive

In your hotel or apartment, find the stairs and the emergency exits, and count the doors from your room to the exit.
Keep shoes, phone, key card and flashlight by the bed.
On the coast, check where the high ground is. See Tsunamis.
Agree a meeting point with your travel companions.

3. If something happens

Follow instructions from local authorities and hotel staff. They know the local risks.
Use the guide for the hazard: earthquakes, hurricanes, civil unrest, fires, attacks.
Tell your family you are safe with a short text message. Networks may be overloaded.
Contact your embassy or consulate if you need help, have lost your passport or need to leave the country. EU citizens can ask any EU country's embassy for help where their own has none.
Call your insurer's emergency line before paying for major medical care or changing flights, when possible.
Stay away from demonstrations and from damaged areas. Do not go sightseeing in a disaster zone.