Bali
Ambulance Number: How to Call for Help as a Foreigner

The main Bali ambulance number is 118, and the national
medical emergency line is 119; 112 also works from any phone even
without a SIM or credit. For faster, English-speaking help —
especially in South Bali’s tourist zones — many foreigners call a
private hospital ambulance directly (BIMC and Siloam both dispatch their
own). When you call, give your exact location plus a well-known
landmark, describe the emergency simply, and stay on the line. If you
would rather not gamble on public response times, a concierge
coordinator can dispatch a private ambulance and meet the patient at the
hospital.

Knowing the right Bali ambulance number for foreigners is one of
those things you hope you never need — until you do. This guide gives
you the numbers, tells you honestly how the system behaves in practice,
and shows you how to get help moving quickly wherever you are on the
island.

The numbers to save right
now

Program these into your phone before you need them:

• 119 — Indonesia’s national medical emergency
  hotline. This is the primary number in 2027.
• 118 — dedicated ambulance line.
• 112 — universal emergency number (routes to police,
  fire, and medical). It works with no credit and no SIM, which makes it
  the safest fallback.
• Your hotel or villa front desk — often the fastest
  route to a local ambulance and a translator, because staff know
  the area and can speak to the operator in Bahasa Indonesia.

Save at least two of these, because in a real emergency you want a
backup if the first line is busy or the operator’s English is
limited.

What actually happens when
you call

Being realistic here matters more than a tidy list. Public emergency
dispatch in Bali is improving but is not the seamless “one call and an
ambulance is there in six minutes” experience many Western travellers
expect. Three things are worth knowing:

1. English can be limited. The operator may not speak
   fluent English. Speak slowly, use short sentences, and repeat your
   location twice.
2. Location is everything. Bali addresses are
   notoriously hard to describe. Give a landmark first — “next to [named
   hotel] on [named beach road]” — then the specific address or a dropped
   map pin you can send to whoever is helping.
3. Response times vary a lot. In dense, traffic-heavy
   areas like Canggu, Seminyak, Kuta, and Ubud, an ambulance can be delayed
   at peak times. For genuinely critical cases, this is why a direct call
   to a private hospital ambulance is often the better
   first move.

Medical disclaimer: This information is for general
guidance only and is not medical advice. Bali Medical Concierge
coordinates care and does not diagnose or treat. Always consult a
licensed physician. In an emergency call 118/119 or your nearest Bali
hospital.

Public vs private ambulance
in Bali

Foreigners are frequently surprised that “the ambulance” is not a
single national service. Broadly, you have two options.

Public / government ambulances are reached via
118/119/112. They will take a patient to a public hospital such as Prof.
Ngoerah (formerly Sanglah) in Denpasar. They are the right choice for
major trauma where the public system’s ICU and surgical capacity are
needed, but response and communication can be slower.

Private hospital ambulances — run by facilities like
BIMC and Siloam — are typically faster
to answer in English, better equipped for foreign patients, and take you
straight into a hospital geared around international care. The trade-off
is cost, which insurance may or may not cover upfront. Our Bali hospital guide for
foreigners explains which hospital fits which situation, so
you are not choosing blind.

What to say on the call

Keep it simple and structured:

• Who and what: “I need an ambulance. A man, about
  40, [motorbike accident / chest pain / unconscious / high fever].”
• Where: landmark first, then address, then offer to
  send a map pin.
• Condition: “He is breathing but not responding” /
  “heavy bleeding from the leg” / “very confused and hot.”
• Your callback number, in case they lose the
  line.

If you are calling about a road crash, a motorbike
accident — Bali’s single most common cause of tourist
injury — mention it clearly, because it changes which hospital is most
appropriate.

Getting the patient to
the right place

An ambulance is only half the equation; which hospital it heads
to is the half that affects the outcome. A private ambulance may
default to its own hospital, which is not always the best-equipped for a
specific emergency. This is where having a coordinator matters: we can
advise, in the moment, whether the patient should go to the nearest
international hospital for stabilisation or straight to the province’s
main referral centre for major trauma.

For patients who are stable but need to be moved — say, from a clinic
that cannot handle their case to a larger hospital, or from the airport
straight to a ward — an organised airport-to-hospital
transfer with a medically aware driver is calmer and safer
than improvising with a taxi.

After the call:
the coordination that follows

Once the ambulance is on its way, the next challenges arrive quickly:
admissions paperwork, a possible deposit
demand, insurance questions, and language barriers on the
ward. These are precisely the things Bali Medical Concierge handles so a
shaken family member does not have to. We contact your insurer for a
cashless guarantee where possible, translate the doctor’s plan into
clear English, and act as your single point of contact with the
hospital’s international desk.

You do not have to wait for a crisis to set this up. You can
request a Bali medical
concierge in advance so a coordinator is ready to step in
the moment anything happens, or reach us directly on WhatsApp at wa.me/6281139414563.

Quick-reference:
calling for an ambulance in Bali

1. Dial 119, 118, or
   112 — or a private hospital ambulance
   for faster English-speaking help.
2. Give a landmark, then the address, then a map
   pin.
3. Describe the patient and condition in short, simple
   sentences.
4. For major trauma, prioritise a hospital with full
   ICU/surgical capacity.
5. Ask a coordinator to manage the hospital, insurer, and
   translation so you can focus on the patient.

How Bali Medical Concierge
helps

We are an island-wide service — not tied to Sanur, not tied to one
hospital — so wherever you are in Bali, we can help you get an ambulance
moving, choose the right destination hospital, and take over the
logistics that pile up the moment a patient is admitted. We don’t
replace emergency services; we make sure you use them well and are never
left navigating a foreign hospital alone.

Start with our emergency medical help in
Bali pillar for the complete emergency playbook, request a coordinator,
or return to the homepage to see
everything we coordinate. Instant help: wa.me/6281139414563.

Reviewed by Dr. Kadek Wirawan, MD — last reviewed 2027. Medical
Advisor & Patient Coordination Lead, Bali Medical
Concierge.

Sources: Indonesian Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) national
emergency line 119; World Health Organization, “Emergency, critical and
operative care” (who.int).