Emergency numbers and help in Argentina

The numbers

• 911 works nationally and reaches police, ambulance and fire.
• The Comisaria del Turista in Buenos Aires has English-speaking officers and exists specifically to take reports from visitors. It is at Avenida Corrientes 436.
• You need a police report (denuncia) for any insurance claim. It can be made at any comisaria and, for some offences, online.

After a theft

• Report it, even though nothing will be recovered. The denuncia is what your insurer wants.
• Cancel cards immediately. Argentine card fraud after a snatch is fast.
• A stolen passport means the police first, then your embassy. Most embassies are in Recoleta or Palermo.
• If your phone is taken, use Find My or Find My Device from a laptop and wipe it. Do not go to meet anyone offering it back.

Medical

• SAME on 107 is the Buenos Aires public ambulance and is free.
• Private hospitals will want a card or your insurer's authorisation before non-emergency treatment.
• Your insurer's 24 hour assistance line is the number to save, because it is what authorises private care and evacuation from Patagonia.

Worth saving now

• Your accommodation's address in Spanish, written down, for a taxi driver.
• The Argentine country code is +54. Mobile numbers dialled from abroad take +54 9 before the area code.
• Your embassy's out-of-hours number, which is different from the switchboard.
• Both airports' names, so you can tell a driver which one you mean: Ezeiza and Aeroparque.