France
Health & Medical Emergencies
Last verified August 15, 2026
Written for U.S. passport holders
Emergency Numbers
- Dial 112 (works throughout the EU) or 15 (SAMU, France's dedicated medical emergency line) for an ambulance. Police is 17, fire is 18. All of these route through operators trained to answer in English before transferring you.
- SAMU's model is distinctive: a qualified doctor is on the line to assess your situation and decide what kind of response you actually need, not just a dispatcher taking down an address.
- For U.S. consular emergency assistance (a detained or hospitalized American, coordinating care, notifying family), call the State Department's Overseas Citizens Services from anywhere in the world: +1-888-407-4747 (from the U.S. or Canada) or +1-202-501-4444 (from overseas). This is separate from the local emergency number and won't dispatch an ambulance itself, but it's the number that gets the U.S. government involved.
Getting Treated as a Foreigner
- As with the rest of the EU, the reciprocal free-care system that covers EU nationals doesn't extend to U.S. citizens. Expect a bill for treatment, even for a genuine emergency, and expect it to be handled through your own travel insurance rather than any France-U.S. reciprocal arrangement, because there isn't one.
The Gotcha
SAMU's doctor-on-the-line model (calling 15 specifically) means the response you get is genuinely triaged by a physician rather than a generic dispatcher, which is worth knowing if you're deciding between 15 and 112 for a medical situation specifically. Either number gets you help, but 15 is the one built around medical judgment first.
Sources
This page was drafted from the primary sources below. Rules change, so check the linked page directly before relying on any of this.
- Emergency Services in France (U.S. Embassy & Consulates in France)
- Help Abroad (Overseas Citizens Services) (U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs)