Emergency information in Sri Lanka
Suwa Seriya on 1990 is a free ambulance service stationed at police posts across the island, averaging under 15 minutes. Police 119, fire 110, tourist police +94 11 242 1052.
Emergency numbers
Suwa Seriya is free and is the line to call for anything medical.
- Ambulance (Suwa Seriya): 1990. A free, highly modern and fast pre-hospital care service whose ambulances with trained paramedics are stationed at police posts across the island, with an average response time under 15 minutes.
- Police: 119. (118 is the emergency information service, not the police line.)
- Fire service: 110.
- Tourist police: +94 11 242 1052.
Private hospitals will not treat you without a guarantee letter from your insurer or cash up front.
Outside the main cities, distance is the problem
1990 is the ambulance to call anywhere on the island, but emergency treatment outside the main cities is not readily available and repatriation is limited and very expensive.
- 1990 is the number to ask for an ambulance, and Suwa Seriya reaches places a private service will not.
- Emergency treatment outside the main cities is not readily available, so serious cases move to Colombo or Kandy - and that movement is the risk, not the diagnosis.
- Private hospitals are good and expensive, and want payment or an insurer's guarantee before they admit you.
- Repatriation is limited and very expensive. Insurance that covers evacuation is not an optional extra on a trip to the south or east coast.
- Dengue is the everyday health risk, along with Zika and chikungunya - all mosquito-borne, all a matter of repellent and covered arms at dusk rather than luck.
The ambulance is free; getting to the right hospital is the question
Suwa Seriya on 1990 is genuinely one of the best things about travelling in Sri Lanka: free, fast, and stationed across the island rather than only in the capital. What it cannot fix is the shape of the health system around it - emergency treatment outside the main cities is not readily available, and anything complicated ends up in Colombo.
For a traveller that translates into two practical rules:
- On the coast or in the hill country, know how far you are from a real hospital before you need to know. It is usually further than the drive to the beach suggested.
- Call your insurer as soon as you are referred anywhere. Private hospitals in Colombo expect a guarantee of payment, and repatriation - if it comes to that - is limited and very expensive.
Mosquitoes, not muggers
The health risk that actually catches visitors here is dengue, with Zika and chikungunya also present. All three are spread by daytime-biting mosquitoes, which is why repellent in the morning matters more than repellent at night, and why a fever that follows you home is worth telling a doctor about, along with where you have been.
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