In the event of an emergency, dial 112, the National Emergency Service, free of charge.

They can speak both Portuguese and English and will be able to respond to your emergency appropriately.

Bit of an Anthea Turner moment now... Whilst the 112 people will be able to communicate in English, the local Bombeiros who may need to find you in the middle of nowhere probably won't.

Consider making a note of numbers useful to you, including your own mobile and landline, (would you remember them in an emergency?), and include the simplest of directions to your home in Portuguese. Use 'Translate Yourself' on our navigation bar to do this.

Once you've got the emergency details, stick them somewhere memorable, and make the whole household aware of the location. You may be relying on someone else to use this information in an emergency situation.

Here are some other Useful Numbers

	FIRE	POLICE	HEALTH CENT.	HOSPITALS
Albufeira	289 586 333	289 515 420	289 588 770
Faro	289 823 630	289 822 022	289 830 300	289 891 100
Lagoa	282 352 888	282 352 310	282 340 370
Lagos	282 770 790	282 762 930	282 780 000	282 770 100
Loulé	289 416 702	289 462 782	289 401 000
Portimão	282 422 122	282 417 510	282 417 717	282 450 300