Germany
Health & Medical Emergencies
Last verified August 15, 2026
Written for U.S. passport holders
Emergency Numbers
- Dial 112 for ambulance or fire. Dial 110 separately for police, these are two different numbers.
- Both are free, available 24/7, and operators generally speak German and English.
- 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 covering EU nationals doesn't apply to U.S. citizens. Expect to be billed for hospital treatment, including emergency care, and plan to handle it through your own travel insurance.
The Gotcha
112 for medical/fire and 110 for police is the reverse of what some travelers expect coming from a single-number country; mixing them up in the moment (calling 110 for a medical emergency) will still get you help since German dispatchers coordinate across services, but knowing 112 is your default for anything medical saves a step.
Sources
This page was drafted from the primary sources below. Rules change, so check the linked page directly before relying on any of this.
- Im Notfall: 112, die Notrufnummer für Europa (Bundesregierung (Federal Government of Germany))
- Help Abroad (Overseas Citizens Services) (U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs)