IN AN EMERGENCY

France has 3 main emergency services: the national medical emergency service (Service d'Aide Médicale d'Urgence or SAMU), the fire brigade (les pompiers), and the police force.

The SAMU deals with serious cases only, providing ambulances and medical teams. In France the fire brigade is also trained to deal with medical emergencies, and will often be the first point of contact for road accidents, domestic injuries, and in rural areas.

The French police force is divided into 3 separate branches. Generally speaking, the gendarmerie covers rural areas, whilst the police nationale and police municipale are responsible for policing urban areas.

The following is a list of important numbers for the French emergency services. You can call these numbers free of charge from a home or public payphone. You should be able to give clear indications of your name, address and telephone number in French, as there is no guarantee that you will find an English-speaking operator. Don't forget to give the door code of your apartment building and never hang up until you are invited to do so.

Medical emergency (SAMU): 15
Police: 17
Fire Brigade: 18

For non-urgent situations, it is advisable to make a note of the regular phone number of your nearest police station (commissariat de police or gendarmerie).

Emergencies calling from a mobile phone: 112

This is a pan-European number that can be called in any emergency. You will be connected to the appropriate emergency services in your area. You can also ask to be connected to an English operator.

For a more comprehensive list of emergency numbers, see the directory maintained by the US Embassy in France.