Emergency numbers in Ghana

Save these now. Not later.

The numbers

112 is the national emergency number, operated by the National Ambulance Service, and it is free from any phone including one with no credit. It routes to police, fire or ambulance.

The three-digit services are the direct lines, and going direct is sometimes faster.

Ghana’s international dialling code is +233.

What to say

Stay on the line and give, in this order:

1. Where you are. This is the hard part in Accra. Give your GhanaPostGPS digital address if you have it, then landmarks: the nearest junction, a filling station, a school, a church, a well-known building.
2. What has happened.
3. How many people are involved, and their condition.
4. Your name and phone number.

Do not hang up until you are told to.

Being realistic about response

Emergency response in Accra varies enormously by area, by hour and by traffic. The National Ambulance Service is stretched, and Accra traffic does not always part for a siren.

In practice, most people take the patient to hospital themselves — by taxi, by private car, or by asking a neighbour. For many situations this is genuinely the faster option, and it is not a failure to do it.

What this means:

• Know your nearest hospital and the route, before you need it
• Know a second one, in case the first is on the wrong side of traffic
• Keep a neighbour’s number, and a taxi or Bolt driver you have used before
• Do not delay while waiting for an ambulance that may be far away

Hospitals and clinics in Accra

Police

191, or go to the nearest police station.

The Ghana Police Service has specialised units worth knowing about:

• DOVVSU — the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit, for domestic violence, sexual assault and child protection. Present at most district stations.
• CID — for fraud, including land and rental fraud. — Housing and land scams
• MTTD — the Motor Traffic and Transport Department, for road traffic matters.

If you report a crime, ask for the police extract — the written statement of your report. Insurers, employers and courts will ask for it, and obtaining it later is harder.

Fire

192, the Ghana National Fire Service.

Fire risk in Accra is elevated by dense construction, informal electrical connections and LPG cylinder use. Markets have suffered repeated large fires.

• Keep a fire extinguisher if you use gas
• Turn the cylinder off at the valve, not just the burner
• Do not overload extension boards, particularly during dumsor when everything runs at once on restoration
• Know two ways out of your building

Road accidents

• Call 112 or 193
• Do not move a seriously injured person unless they are in immediate further danger
• The police must attend for any accident involving injury
• Photograph everything before vehicles are moved, if it is safe
• Exchange details: names, phone numbers, vehicle registrations, insurance sticker details

Road traffic injury is the largest single physical risk most Accra residents face.

Driving in Accra

Other useful contacts

• Your embassy or high commission, if you are a foreign national. Save the number and the after-hours line.
• Your insurer’s emergency line, if you have private cover.
• ECG, for a downed power line — treat it as an emergency and keep clear. — Electricity
• Your bank and mobile money provider, to freeze accounts if your phone is stolen. — Mobile money

Prepare now

• Save 112, 191, 192 and 193 in your phone
• Generate and save your GhanaPostGPS digital address
• Write down two or three landmarks near your house
• Identify your two nearest hospitals and the routes
• Save a neighbour’s number
• Save your embassy’s emergency line, if applicable
• Keep a torch and a charged power bank
• Put an emergency contact on your phone’s lock screen