Who to call in case of emergency in Croatia? An overview of the important numbers, agencies and advice in case of some an unplanned disaster on holiday.
- Emergency in Croatia – the most important numbers
- Croatian Mountain Rescue Service (HGSS)
- Croatian Fire Brigade
- HAK (Croatian Automobile Club) – latest road conditions
- Contacting the Croatian police
- The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre
- The Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service
- Croatian Emergency Medicine Institute
Emergency in Croatia – the most important numbers
The most important numbers if you find yourself in an emergency in Croatia are:
112 is a single emergency call number used in the Republic of Croatia, and it is accessible free of charge from all public telephone networks.
In addition to the mentioned single emergency call number, other emergency call numbers are in use:
112 – General emergency number
192 – Police
193 – Fire brigade
194 – Ambulance
195 – Rescue at sea
1987- HAK – road assistance
All emergency call numbers are available from any telephone device, including all public pay-phones.
112 calls can be answered in English, German, Italian, Hungarian, Slovak & Czech.
The average time to answer a 112 call is 5 seconds. An SMS service is also available for those with disabilities.
Croatian Mountain Rescue Service (HGSS)
The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service (HDSS) does sterling work around the year, particularly in summer, when may tourists leave their brains behind when on holiday. Hiking in flip-flops, floating out to sea on air mattresses, and a host of other ill-advised escapades have kept the team at HGSS very busy.
In order to highlight these issues in recent years, HGSS embarked on a hilarious social media campaign to encourage tourists to think before putting their lives in unnecessary danger. You can catch a little of the flavour of the campaign on the TCN HGSS page.
You can reach HGSS in emergency via 112, and in calmer times via the HGSS website.
Here are the contact details for the local HGSS offices, but please note these are not for contact in case of emergency in Croatia.
Croatian Fire Brigade
Croatia has had huge problems with forest fires in recent years, particularly in the summer of 2017, when must of Dalmatia was ablaze. The fires even came to the gates of Split. PLEASE be careful and thoughtful while visiting Croatia. A careless cigarette butt or barbecue out of control can have huge consequences.
Croatian firefighters do a magnificent job, and their emergency number is 193. You can learn more about the history of the Croatian Fire Service, as well as life today on this English-language website. The Croatian Firefighting Association also maintains its own website.
HAK (Croatian Automobile Club) – latest road conditions
Life on the roads is overseen by HAK, the Croatian Automobile Club. The emergency number is 1987.
Among the various services offered by HAK, a particularly useful one for tourists is the English-language update on current road conditions. The service also includes updates on border queues and ferry delays. Keep up to date with the current situation when you are travelling in Croatia.
Contacting the Croatian police
The emergency number to contact the police in Croatia is 192. Alternatively, you can contact them online via the Ministry of the Interior.
The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre
195 is the number you need if you get caught out at sea, and you can learn more about the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre.
The Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service
The weather can change quickly in Croatia, and the famous bura wind has a habit of interrupting even the best-prepared holiday plans. If the weather is key to your travel or holiday plans, then it makes sense to keep an eye on weather conditions. You can also check out the latest weather forecasts and warnings.
Croatian Emergency Medicine Institute
The Croatian Emergency Medicine Institute has a number of offices around the country. You can find the office closest to you from this list.
