Emergency information in New Zealand
111 reaches police, ambulance and fire. Use 105 for anything that is not urgent - a theft reported after the fact, or property damage with no threat to life.
Emergency numbers
New Zealand runs a single emergency number alongside a separate non-urgent line, and calling the wrong one wastes time.
- 111: The single emergency number for police, ambulance and fire.
- 105: For reporting non-urgent matters (a theft reported after the fact, property damage with no threat to life).
ACC covers the cost of treating accidental injury for every visitor regardless of fault, but not ordinary illness, evacuation or trip cancellation.
Emergency Mobile Alert: no app, no sign-up, no opt-out
New Zealand broadcasts emergency alerts from cell towers to every capable phone in the affected area. Your number is not involved, so a roaming foreign SIM receives them like any other phone.
- Nothing to install and nothing to subscribe to. Alerts are broadcast from targeted cell towers to all capable devices in the area a hazard affects.
- Your phone number is never used and no information about you is collected - the alert goes to the tower, and the tower shouts.
- Three conditions to receive one: the phone is on, it is connected to a cell tower in the targeted area, and it is not in flight mode. Software should be up to date.
- A foreign SIM on roaming counts. Because the broadcast reaches every connected device rather than a list of numbers, a visitor's phone is in scope like everyone else's.
- The system is tested nationwide once a year, so a loud unexpected alert may be a drill - read it before you panic, and never turn the channel off.
How the alert reaches you
An Emergency Mobile Alert is not a text message. It is broadcast from the cell towers covering an affected area to every capable device connected to them, which is why nobody can be individually excluded and why it needs no app, no subscription and no phone number.
To receive one, your phone must be:
- switched on,
- connected to a cell tower inside the targeted area,
- not in flight mode,
- running up-to-date software.
New Zealand uses a broadcast channel that is always on, so the optional alert settings you may have seen in other countries do not apply here.
What it is used for, and what it is not
Alerts carry serious hazards - tsunami, flooding, wildfire, severe weather - and normally arrive with an instruction attached: evacuate, move inland, stay off the roads. Act on the instruction first and look for detail afterwards.
The agency is clear that the alert is an extra channel rather than the whole warning system. In particular, for a tsunami after a large earthquake the natural warning comes first: if a quake is long or strong, move to high ground immediately without waiting for a phone to tell you.
For anything else, the numbers stay simple: 111 for police, fire and ambulance, and 105 for police matters that are not urgent.
Healthline: free medical advice before you find a clinic
0800 611 116 is free and answered around the clock by nurses and paramedics. It is the shortcut when you are unsure whether a problem needs a doctor, a pharmacy or an emergency department.
- Healthline: 0800 611 116, free, 24 hours a day. Experienced nurses and paramedics take the call and tell you what to do next.
- Use it when you do not know how serious it is - which is most of the time, in a country where the nearest after-hours clinic may be an hour away.
- 111 is still the number for anything urgent; Healthline is for the space between a pharmacy and an ambulance.
- 105 is for police matters that are not emergencies: a theft discovered afterwards, damage with nobody in danger.
- Ask where to go, not just what to do. After-hours clinics and pharmacies keep local hours, and the operator knows them.
The number that saves the drive
Distances are the thing visitors underestimate in New Zealand. Outside the main centres, "go and get it looked at" can mean an hour each way, and the emergency department is often the only door open. Healthline exists to answer whether that trip is necessary: it is free on 0800 611 116, it runs around the clock, and the person on the other end is a nurse or a paramedic rather than a receptionist.
| Situation | Call |
|---|---|
| Someone is in danger - accident, chest pain, serious bleeding | 111 |
| Unwell or injured, not obviously urgent | Healthline 0800 611 116 |
| Police matter with no immediate danger | 105 |
Injury treatment is the part of the system that surprises people in a good way: ACC covers the cost of treating accidental injury for visitors regardless of fault. It does not cover ordinary illness, evacuation home or a cancelled trip, which is what travel insurance is for.
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