ambulance in HK

I'm in the midst of writing up a list of emergency contacts and numbers for my helper in case there is a problem with my 8 month old... Does anyone know where the patient is taken if you dial 999 for an ambulance? Is it the nearest public hospital or can you choose to go to the nearest private hospital? Thanks!

If you call 999 for an ambulance, you will be taken to the nearest public hospital.

You may choose both private or public. Just tell the person in charge and he will inform the driver.

I would echo the last post, sadly with personal experience. I had to call an ambulance in the middle of the night when I thought my baby was dying. In my ignorance I called 999. The operator's English was very poor and it took ages to get them to understand. They took longer to arrive than I expected given how close the ambulance station is to us and came with a wheelchair having completely misunderstood that I was talking about a baby not an old person. The care they gave the baby was pitiful - I had expected them to be paramedics like in the UK but definitely not. Luckily we are close to the hospital and the baby didn't die, but if I had realised about the poor training of the crew I would have tried to get the paramedics instead - who knows whether that would work though given I don't speak cantonese.


That said, I wouldn't fault the medical care in the public hospital and would always go there in an emergency rather than a private one.

hi...since am new to hk, this thread has made me situp...would like to know what to dial to call the paramedics...

You can also call the Fire Services Communication Centre at 2735 3355 for emergency ambulance service.


If going to a private hospital, note the following:


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With effect from 0830 hrs on 1 November 2005, all emergency patients would be conveyed to the Accident & Emergency Department of the nearest designated Hospital Authority (HA) hospital/clinic, except the followings:-



(i) Emergency patients entering Hong Kong who have been pre-arranged for admission to a particular HA hospital and the patient’s condition is stable enough for a longer journey;



(ii) Emergency patients on production of a valid certificate issued by HA which states that he/she is required to be treated in a designated HA hospital provided that the request being made is related to the medical condition as specified in the certificate and the patient’s condition is stable enough for a longer journey;



(iii) Emergency patients with genuine medical reasons (e.g. specialized medical treatment is immediately available there, patients with chronic illness have been previously treated or admitted in that private hospital, admission to that private hospital for emergency treatment is pre-arranged, etc.) may be conveyed to a private hospital of their own choice provided that the conveyance of patients to the private hospital of their own choice is in the best interest of the patients.



If the patient’s request for conveyance to a hospital of their own choice is acceded to, the patients or the guardian / relative, if the patient is under the age of 18, should be requested to sign a request form FS 319. The patient will undertake the full responsibility and liability of making such request.

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Thanks for the info. Baby had a trip to the ER last week (just a cut lip), but the experience made me realize that I don't actually know what numbers to call /what would happen (re: ambulance/ hospital) in a "real" emergency! Thankfully, it happened when I was home, but I also realized that I haven't yet went over what to do in case of emergency with our helper, if something happens when she is babysitting my baby. I live near Queen Mary so quite happy to "end up there"! Thanks again!

If you and your helper have not yet done a first aid course it might be worth it.


Call Debbie, our health education coordinator on 2849 0357 for all the details.


Matilda International Hospital

Hong Kong

http://www.matilda.org