Pilsoņu iela 13, Riga, LV-1002
Medical transportation: +371 7454547
Charge service: +371 9002626
Office: +371 7615534
Office: +371 9447710
The Center can be contacted 24 hours a day.
In case of emergency situations dial any of the phone numbers mentioned above.
For more info about medical assistance, emergency and disaster medicine see the homepage mentioned above or www.expats.lv (under Emergency Utilities).
Whenever you dial 112, the information goes to the nearest ambulance service and to The Center of Emergency and Disaster Medicine, which is responsible for the coordination of medical help. The center collects all information about the accident and sends one ambulance with specialists to the place of the accident. Therefore it is possible to find out, to which hospital a person ( or how many persons) has been transported to, if you know the name of the foreign person or the place of the accident. In case the patient is a local one, the Police can provide the information, if they are involved.
In emergency situations, the Center follow the Disaster Medical Help Plan approved by the Cabinet of Ministers. A new version of the plan is under negotiation at the CoM. According to the new-coming plan, the biggest local hospitals should be able to help in emergency situations.
If the local hospital cannot handle the case, the victims are transported from one hospital to a more central one - usually in Riga - by the Center. Helicopters can also be used in case of emergency, because the Centre has an agreement with the Latvian Air Forces, who own the helicopters.
If the patient has to be repatriated (transported to his/her homeland), the Center can provide transportation to the nearest airport and a doctor in the transport. The responsible person for repatriation is Dr. Caune. The Center is currently negotiating with Air Baltic, who do not acept lying patents on board.
Language. All the doctors of the Center can speak foreign languages, but not all local hospitals have English-speaking doctors. The Center calls the local hospitals, and in case of a language problem, the patient is always transported to Riga. If a patient does not speak English, the Center contacts the embassy.
There are 3 emergency hospitals in Riga:
Hospital No. 1,
P. Stradiņš Hospital,
Hospital “Gaiļezers”.
Moreover there are First Aid Centers in Daugavpils, Liepāja, Jelgava,Ventspils. For contact information please see www.expats.lv.
In case of Hypothermia (e.g., after spending too long time in cold water), all the ambulances can provide a higher temperature inside the car. Afterwards an injection of 42°C and wrapping is provided.
In case the Center becomes disabled to help in the result of a big disaster, another emergency hospital acts as the coordination and emergency center, following the existing regulations.
If everything goes down, the civil protection (under the Ministry of Interior) and the military forces provide medical help, if necessary using the 4 helicopters they have. In the worst case, emergency medical help can be received from Lithuania, Estonia and Sweden, with whom Latvia has signed agreements.
The Center is interested in cooperation with similar institutions in the Nordic countries. They are already cooperating with EURO-ALARM from EUROPÆISKE center in Copenhagen. The Medical Director and the International Cooperation Manager of Euro-Alarm visited the Centre, as well as the biggest hospitals of Riga. They learned about the medical service and system of Latvia. The Center agreed to provide Euro-Alarm with all the necessary information concerning Nordic patients and the available medical treatment at any particular hospital in Latvia any time they contact the Center. They agreed to cooperate in repatriation.
According to the Latvian legislation all the hospitals are obliged to inform the Center about every foreign patient. The Center doesn’t have clear guidelines about who should be contacted in case a foreigner has been put into a hospital – the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the embassies.
The Center is considering to prepare an introduction/information letter about their organization and send it to all the embassies in Latvia.