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Access to healthcare: emergency services and numbers
This sheet presents emergency services and numbers. It also presents the healthcare pathway.
Key points of the sheet
- Hospital emergency services are only for the most serious emergencies. They take in anyone in an emergency, including psychiatric emergencies.
- Emergency services are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They treat life-threatening emergencies and serious injuries that need immediate care.
- You must act according to how serious it is. With no immediate danger to life (high fever, severe pain, feeling faint), you can call SOS Médecins on 3624.
- Calling 3624 costs €0.16 per minute, and the line is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If needed, a doctor can come to your home, by day or by night.
- If life is in danger (serious injury, breathing distress, loss of consciousness), call the SAMU on 15, or 114 for deaf and hard-of-hearing people. The call is free, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- If you need quick care but can move (sprain, deep wound), you can go directly to the emergency department of the nearest hospital.
- Other numbers exist: 119 for a child in danger, 3919 for a woman who is a victim of violence. For suicide prevention: 3114, and in English 01 46 21 46 46. All emergency numbers are in an annex sheet.
Words to know
- emergency services (services d’urgence)
- They are hospital services, open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for the most serious emergencies.
- SOS Médecins
- You call it on 3624 when there is no immediate danger to life; a doctor can come to your home.
- SAMU (emergency medical service)
- You call it for free on 15 when life is in danger; it can send an ambulance.
- danger to life (danger vital)
- For example a serious injury, breathing distress or loss of consciousness.
Test yourself: 3 questions
Which number do you call for a child in danger?
In French, the language of the exam: Quel numéro appeler pour un enfant en danger ?
The sheet says: a child in danger? Call 119.
Which emergency number is for deaf and hard-of-hearing people?
In French, the language of the exam: Quel numéro d’urgence est pour les sourds et malentendants ?
When life is in danger, you call 15 or 114. 114 is the emergency call for deaf and hard-of-hearing people.
When are hospital emergency services open?
In French, the language of the exam: Quand les services d’urgence des hôpitaux sont-ils ouverts ?
The sheet says that emergency services are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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Questions on the ministry's list that rest on this sheet
More in this topic (Health)
- Getting covered: the steps to access universal health protection (PUMa)
- Healthcare cover: the different types of health insurance
- Health prevention and promotion (1/2)
Source
Sheet “Accès aux soins : services et numéros d’urgence” of the French Ministry of the Interior: formation-civique.interieur.gouv.fr. Content published under the Etalab Open Licence 2.0. This page is a plain-language adaptation made by Hexaciv, which is not an official site: if in doubt, the ministry's text is the one that counts.
Ministry sheet read on 23 October 2026, still identical on 25 October 2026.