Emergency
Emergency care
In a life-threatening emergency call 155 for medical rescue (Zdravotnicka zachranna sluzba) or 112 for the general European emergency line. Both are free from any phone including landlines and have English-speaking dispatchers.
When to call an ambulance
- Chest pain, especially with shortness of breath or arm pain.
- Stroke signs: face drooping, arm weakness, slurred speech.
- Severe difficulty breathing.
- Uncontrollable bleeding.
- Loss of consciousness or severe head injury.
- Seizure lasting more than 5 minutes or recurring.
- Severe allergic reaction with swelling of throat or breathing difficulty.
Hospital ER (pohotovost)
For urgent but not immediately life-threatening problems, go directly to a hospital emergency room. Every regional hospital has one. In Prague, popular general ERs are Fakultni nemocnice v Motole, Vseobecna fakultni nemocnice, and Nemocnice na Bulovce.
Lekarska sluzba prvni pomoci (LSPP)
Out-of-hours GP-level care. Every district has one. Useful for evening or weekend problems that are worrying but not ER-level: high fevers in children, acute back pain, urinary infections. Bring your insurance card.
Tourists and EHIC
If you are visiting from another EU country with an EHIC (European Health Insurance Card), emergency and necessary care is covered on the same terms as Czech residents. Show the card at admission. Non-EU visitors should carry travel insurance that specifies medical coverage.