jnixon

Dear Expats, my parents are currently resident in Spain and experience health problems. On Saturday, they could not call an ambulance but managed to contact me on Skype and through a protracted network I managed to get an ambulance to them. Do any of you know whether it is possible to contact the Spanish emergency services from the UK? - I could not do this through 112 as it is specific for the country you are located in.

Also, are any of those automatic calling services available in Spain as with the emergency buttons in the UK that can send address and contact details direct to the emergency services? Any help gratefully appreciated. Jim

Neptuno

What a worry it must be for you!
Why wasn't it possible for them to call 112? Was it because of the language?
Are they in an isolated area or on an urbanisation?
Do you think they will want to return to the UK after this?

amideislas

That's a difficult one, and completely valid.

There probably is a more direct solution - somehow.

My first thought is if your parents had a Voip-based phone line as offered by a local internet supplier in your parent's region - a local phone number at your parent's house (with registered 112 services), you could theoretically have an IP phone in your house in the UK connected to that service, with local (Spanish) 112 access from that phone. Presuming your parent's address is registered in the local 112 services database (the supplier will do this for you), the emergency services would instantly see the registered address of the phone number when you dial 112, even though you are physically in the UK.

Neptuno

Even if you could contact the services from the UK, it's a highly unsatisfactory situation, as it sounds as if your parents cannot take care of themselves, and that is a great worry for you, as you can only imagine what's going on.
In the case of a heart attack, there probably wouldn't be a good outcome, trying to access emergency services in such a convoluted way.

amideislas

Yes, that's true. If the emergency rendered them unable to make any call, how can they call you in the UK?

Also, I wouldn't know how it is in their area, but 112 services here are fluent in English, German, Russian, so if it's a perceived language barrier that prevents making the call, then perhaps you should find out for sure. It may be no problem at all.

But it sounds like, unfortunately, it may be time to consider alternative care...

Rosemary

Hi and a warm welcome to the Spanish forum on BE. Myself and Fred James are the moderators for the Spanish forums whilst BEVS moderates Europe. Moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. This is so that members gain the information that they are looking for and find their experiences on the forums to be friendly and worthwhile.

Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderator who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are usually friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge about the issues of living in Spain. I hope that you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

missile

I had the opposite problem, calling the emergency services for my elderly mother who lives in the UK.

Neptuno

Wherever the problem is, if elderly parents have to contact family members in another country in order to help themselves, then it's a major problem

missile

Where about do they live? I would suggest you obtain the phone number for the nearest hospital and dial that number.

For example Torrevieja Hospital phone is manned 24/7 and they speak excellent English - better that I do <LOL>:

Hospital Universitario de Torrevieja
Carretera CV-95 s/n, 03186 - Torrevieja
Alicante

Teléfono: (+0034) 965 721 200
Web: Home - Hospital de TorreviejaHospital de Torrevieja

Fredbargate

All of the emergency services should have a normal phone number that can be called by anyone anywhere that has access to a phone.
Finding those numbers for the nearest Fire / Ambulance / Police etc. to your parents address should be one of your priorities before a further crisis arises.

However as others have mentioned it must also be a priority that your parents are able to call for help themselves.

Here in Gibraltar Fire & Ambulance emergency number is 190 Police 199 also 112 works but you must be sure that if using a mobile you are on the local Gibraltar service and not roaming in Spain or Morroco which is not unusual.

The normal phone numbers are Police & Ambulance 20072500, Fire 20045964

missile you beat me to it

snikpoh

I really don't understand why they could use skype but could not call for an ambulance.

If they can't use 112 then no other direct dial numbers are going to help either.

MikeJ

In extremis you could also dial 999 if it is truly an emergency - the British authorities are usually very good at contacting overseas emergency services.

Although I do agree with most of the advice about the ability to contact these services locally and also telling relatives what the local emergency service numbers are.

VFR

Most local health centers are manned 24/7 and will know your parents (or of them)
You or they can call them for help.

Neptuno

So why can the parents not call 112? If they can't call an emergency ambulance, how are they going to call the Health centre?
Besides, the main concern must be whether the parents can look after themselves

VFR

Indeed, but we will have to wait for the OP to tell us why ?