Singapore
Health & Medical Emergencies
Last verified August 15, 2026
Written for U.S. passport holders
Emergency Numbers
- Dial 995 for an ambulance or fire. Dial 999 separately for police, these are two different numbers, not one unified line.
- If your situation isn't a true emergency but you still want an SCDF ambulance, there's a separate non-emergency line (1777) so you don't tie up the 995 line.
- 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
- The SCDF ambulance itself is free if it's for a genuine medical emergency, regardless of your nationality or insurance status.
- Hospital treatment is a separate matter: Singapore's subsidized public healthcare rates are for citizens and permanent residents, so as a foreign tourist you'll be billed at the full, unsubsidized rate, which at Singapore's private and even public hospitals can add up quickly.
The Gotcha
Singapore's reputation for excellent healthcare is well earned, but it's also genuinely expensive if you're paying the unsubsidized foreigner rate out of pocket. The ambulance ride itself won't cost you anything in a real emergency, but don't extrapolate from that to assume the rest of your care will be similarly free; it isn't, and travel insurance is worth having here specifically because the quality of care (and its price tag) both run high.
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 Medical Services (Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF))
- Help Abroad (Overseas Citizens Services) (U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs)