How to call Moscow ambulance service

The Moscow ambulance number is– 103 (you can call from a landline or a mobile phone).

When:

• there is no money on your mobile phone account;
• your SIM-card is blocked
• there is no SIM-card in the phone

The dispatchers speak both Russian and English.

ATTENTION! Moscow ambulance service specialists are always there to help you. However, it’s important to know when you should call an ambulance and when you can cope by yourself.

The most common calls are associated with high temperature when you have flu or colds. But there are different kinds of fever. If your temperature is lower than 39-40 CВє you can treat it yourself because it is a common defensive body reaction to viruses and can resolve on its own within 2 or 3 days. In this case consult your travel and health insurance policy. You can also use simple and well-known methods of treatment at home. In other cases such as a temperature higher than 39-40 CВє and long periods of aggravation are the reasons to call in an ambulance.

In case of an acute distress, sudden illness, sudden deterioration in a patient with chronic disease or a bad injury immediately call 103. In other cases please consult your travel or health insurance policy and act accordingly.

In case of a non-life threatening injury please consult your travel or health insurance policy and act accordingly.

If your children need medical help call 103 and a specialized pediatric team will respond.

There is certain information the dispatcher will need. Your call goes through to the dispatcher within a few seconds. However, when the call load is huge you will hear the answering machine: “Hello, you have reached the Moscow Ambulance Service Control Room, we cannot take your call at the moment. Hold on, please, we’ll get to you as soon as we can”. You should wait for the dispatcher to answer the call. After that provide the dispatcher with the following information:

• what has happened. Answer the questions that the dispatcher will answer you fully.
• the phone number you are calling from
• address where the patient is (if the patient is in the street you should give some landmarks; if the patient is at home you should provide the dispatcher with full details such as: entrance number, floor, coded lock number )
• first name, family name – all the personal data;
• date of birth (if known) or patient’s age
• family name of the person calling

Accurate and full answers to these questions will help the ambulance team get to the patient quicker. If possible, ask someone to signal where the ambulance staff are needed.

The dispatcher will check the address and the phone number once again. Then he will tell you which team will answer your call.

After the call is registered at 103 service and immediately processed in the control room the call is transferred to the nearest substation. Nowadays there are 58 substations in Moscow. Each substation has got sufficient number of teams.

After you dial 103 the dispatcher will decide which team will come to your help. Many substations have got both general and specialized teams. These are: pediatric, psychiatric teams, etc. It will be easier for the dispatcher to understand which specialist you need if you accurately tell him what has happened. Even if it’s a road traffic collision you should note approximate number of injured, what condition they are in and if there are children among them.

All the ambulance cars are equipped with blue flashing lights and sirens which help them to move quickly in traffic.

Before help arrives you can help by doing the following:

• if you are calling from home or work, ask someone to meet the team or signal where the ambulance staff are needed.
• lock away any family pets
• inform the dispatcher of any details that the team will need to get inside your estate or house (for example: coded lock number or doorphone number)