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

Know Abroad

SwitzerlandSwitzerland

Health & Medical Emergencies

Last verified August 15, 2026

Written for U.S. passport holders

Emergency Numbers

  • Dial 144 for an ambulance. Police is 117, fire is 118, all separate numbers. 112, the general European emergency number, also works and connects you to the police dispatch center, who can redirect you.
  • All of these are free from any phone, landline, mobile, or public payphone.
  • 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

  • Switzerland isn't in the EU, and it's not part of the reciprocal free-care system either, so as a U.S. tourist you're paying out of pocket (or through your own travel insurance) for treatment, the same as you would in most non-EU countries on this site.
  • Swiss healthcare is excellent but genuinely expensive, even for Swiss residents, who are legally required to carry private health insurance themselves. Without insurance of your own, a serious incident here can be very costly.

The Gotcha

Switzerland's famously high cost of living extends directly to healthcare: because even Swiss residents are required to carry private insurance rather than relying on a single national system, there's no subsidized 'public rate' floor the way there is in some EU countries. As a tourist, you're paying market rate, and Swiss market rate for healthcare is not cheap.

Sources

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