Emergency numbers and help in Singapore

The numbers

• 995 is for genuine emergencies. Chest pain, serious bleeding, breathing difficulty, unconsciousness, fire.
• 1777 is for cases that need transport but are not life-threatening. Using it correctly keeps the emergency crews free and costs you less.
• Emergency ambulance conveyance is free for genuine emergencies, and SCDF may charge for calls that were not.
• Operators speak English and response times are among the fastest anywhere.
• 911 does not work here. North American visitors dial it by reflex.

Practicalities

• Report theft at any Neighbourhood Police Centre or online, and get the report for your insurer.
• Photograph your passport and save your e-Pass email, which is your only proof of permitted stay since there is no passport stamp.
• If you lose your passport, report it to the police, then contact your embassy or high commission. All are in Singapore itself, so this is easier here than almost anywhere.
• Save your insurer's 24-hour line offline.
• Hospitals with 24-hour emergency departments include Singapore General, Tan Tock Seng, Raffles and Mount Elizabeth. Any taxi driver knows all of them.

If you are arrested

• Ask to contact your embassy immediately. You have that right and it is respected.
• Do not argue, resist or run. Singapore's police are professional and entirely unmoved by protest.
• Penalties are applied to tourists exactly as to residents. There is no leniency for not having known.
• Caning is a real judicial punishment for a list of offences that includes overstaying by more than 90 days, vandalism and some immigration and drug offences.

Weather and air quality

• The NEA publishes hourly PSI readings during haze episodes, with clear advice at each band.
• Thunderstorms with lightning are frequent and Singapore has one of the highest lightning strike rates in the world. Get indoors rather than sheltering under a tree.
• Flash flooding happens after heavy rain in low-lying areas and clears quickly.