Emergency numbers in Pakistan and what to do in a medical emergency

In a medical emergency, minutes matter. Save these numbers in your phone today, and share them with your family.

Emergency numbers

Coverage changes from city to city. Check which service is fastest where you live.

When to call an ambulance

• Chest pain or pressure, especially with sweating, breathlessness or pain spreading to the arm, jaw or back.
• Signs of a stroke (see below).
• Severe difficulty breathing, or lips turning blue.
• Unconsciousness, a seizure that lasts more than 5 minutes, or a seizure in someone who has never had one.
• Severe bleeding that does not stop with firm pressure.
• A serious road accident, a fall from height, or a burn larger than the palm.
• Poisoning or a medicine overdose, even if the person seems fine. This includes too much paracetamol.

Heart attack: signs and first steps

Signs: chest pain, pressure or tightness lasting more than a few minutes; pain in the arm, neck, jaw or back; sweating, nausea, breathlessness, dizziness. Women, older people and people with diabetes may have milder or unusual symptoms.

What to do:

1. Call 1122 or 115 at once. Do not drive yourself.
2. Keep the person seated and calm; loosen tight clothing.
3. If they are not allergic and a doctor has not told them to avoid it, ask the emergency operator whether they should chew an aspirin tablet.
4. If they become unresponsive and are not breathing normally, start CPR: push hard and fast in the centre of the chest, about 100 to 120 times a minute, until help arrives.

Stroke: think BE FAST

• Balance: sudden loss of balance.
• Eyes: sudden loss of vision.
• Face: one side of the face drooping.
• Arm: one arm weak or numb.
• Speech: slurred or strange speech.
• Time: call 1122 immediately and note the time symptoms started.

Some stroke treatments only work within a few hours, so go to a hospital with a 24-hour emergency without delay. Do not give food, water or medicines by mouth.

Other common emergencies

• Severe dengue warning signs: stomach pain, repeated vomiting, bleeding, drowsiness. See our dengue guide.
• Heat stroke: very high body temperature, confusion, hot dry skin. Move the person to shade, cool them with water and fanning, and call for help.
• Dehydration from diarrhoea: give ORS in small, frequent sips; go to hospital if the person cannot drink, is very drowsy or passes little urine.

Find help near you

The XpertMedico emergency page shows the nearest 24-hour hospitals, emergency rooms and pharmacies open now, with directions. You can also browse hospitals by city:

• Hospitals in Lahore
• Hospitals in Karachi
• Hospitals in Islamabad

Need a medicine at night? Read how to find a 24-hour pharmacy.