Informational only, not legal advice. Verify with official sources before relying on this.

Know Abroad

PanamaPanama

Health & Medical Emergencies

Last verified August 15, 2026

Written for U.S. passport holders

Emergency Numbers

  • Dial 911 for ambulance, police, or fire. Panama's Ministry of Public Security unified emergency response under SUME 911 (Sistema Único de Manejo de Emergencias), which replaced the older separate numbers (103, 104, 335) entirely.
  • The service is free from any mobile or landline phone.
  • 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

  • SUME 911 dispatches paramedics and ambulances from posts around the country, but coverage is more limited outside Panama City; if you're in a remote area, response can take longer than you'd expect based on the service's urban performance.
  • As with most of Latin America on this site, private hospitals in Panama City generally expect payment upfront or insurance verification for non-emergency treatment, and are typically the better option for a foreign tourist over the public system.

The Gotcha

If you find older information describing separate 103 (fire) and 104 (police) numbers for Panama, that's now outdated: those numbers were formally eliminated when Panama consolidated everything under a single 911 system. 911 alone is the current, correct number for anything, ambulance included.

Sources

This page was drafted from the primary sources below. Rules change, so check the linked page directly before relying on any of this.