Emergency

Save these before you need them. Police 100, Fire 101, Ambulance 102, Traffic Police 103. Response times vary considerably by location, and in the Kathmandu valley a private ambulance or a taxi to the nearest capable hospital is frequently faster than the public service - so save a hospital number alongside the national ones.

The numbers

Service	Number
Police	100
Fire	101
Ambulance	102
Traffic Police	103
Tourist Police	Available in main tourist areas

Private hospitals operate their own ambulance lines. Find the two nearest hospitals to your home and workplace, save their emergency numbers, and know which has an emergency department that operates overnight - not all do. The hospital directory lists them.

If you are not a Nepali citizen, add your embassy's emergency line. Several embassies ask residents to register their presence in the country, which costs nothing and matters in a large-scale incident.

Earthquakes

Nepal sits on an active fault and experiences significant earthquakes. The 2015 Gorkha earthquake killed thousands and damaged a large part of the central hills, and its memory shapes building codes, drills and public awareness today.

What to do during one: drop, take cover under something solid, and hold on. Do not run outside while the ground is moving - falling masonry at building entrances causes a large share of injuries. If you are outdoors, move away from walls, power lines and buildings.

Afterwards: expect aftershocks, which can be substantial. Avoid damaged buildings. Communication networks become congested immediately - text messages often get through when calls do not.

Preparing in advance is the part people postpone and the part that matters:

• Water for several days, and a torch with spare batteries
• A first aid kit and any regular medication
• Copies of passport, visa and insurance, kept separately from the originals
• Some cash in small notes - card systems fail when power and networks do
• An agreed meeting point with your household, and an out-of-country contact everyone can check in with

Know how your building was constructed and when. It is an uncomfortable question that is better asked before you sign a lease than after an event - see living and housing.

Monsoon: landslides and flooding

From June to September, landslides close mountain highways and flooding affects the Terai and low-lying urban areas. Most casualties are in rural hill districts, and most disruption for everyone else is to travel.

During heavy rain, avoid travelling on mountain roads at night, do not attempt to cross flowing water in a vehicle, and treat local advice about a particular route as more reliable than any schedule. Transportation covers how the monsoon reshapes journeys.

Medical emergencies

Go directly to a hospital with an emergency department rather than waiting for an ambulance, if you can move safely. Private hospitals in the valley generally admit faster than public ones for acute presentations.

Two things specific to Nepal. Payment is usually expected at the time, so a card or cash matters at the point of admission - see healthcare. And Nepal operates largely on a blood replacement system: when a patient needs blood, the family is asked to arrange donors. If you have no local network, say so immediately so the hospital can work with the blood bank.

In the mountains

Trekking emergencies have their own structure. Altitude illness is the most common serious problem and the treatment is descent - immediately, and further than feels necessary.

Helicopter evacuation exists and is effective, and it is also an area where fraud has been documented: unnecessary evacuations arranged and billed to insurers. Protect yourself by using a reputable trekking operator, buying insurance that explicitly covers helicopter rescue at the altitude you are going to, and confirming any evacuation decision with your insurer's assistance line where the situation allows.

Travel for foreigners covers trekking insurance properly.

Fire

Fire response is constrained by the same thing that constrains everything else in the old cities: narrow lanes that a fire engine cannot enter. Buildings with one staircase and barred windows are common.

Check your own exits. Know whether the window grilles in your flat open, and keep an extinguisher if you cook with gas cylinders, which most households do.

Where this goes wrong

• Not having the numbers saved. You will not look them up in the moment.
• No cash at home. Power and network failures take card and QR payment with them.
• Running outside during a quake. The entrance is the dangerous place.
• Trekking without rescue cover. A helicopter evacuation is ruinous to pay for privately.
• Assuming the hospital will bill your insurer. Almost always you pay, then claim.

Where to go next

Healthcare covers the hospital system in ordinary circumstances, and emergency for foreigners covers embassy contact, insurance and what differs for non-citizens.

What to prepare before anything happens

The households that cope are the ones that did this while nothing was going on, and it takes an afternoon.

Water and food for several days, rotated. A torch and a power bank, charged. Cash in small notes, because power and network failures take card payment with them. A first aid kit and a fortnight of any regular medication. Copies of your documents, stored separately from the originals and photographed to a cloud account.

A meeting point your household agrees on, and one contact outside the country that everyone will try to reach rather than trying to reach each other, because local networks congest first.

Know your building. When it was built, what it is made of, whether it was retrofitted, and where the gas shut-off is.