I have looked everywhere for something on this question but cant find it... please help.

Medical emergency in the middle of the night... what do I do? My company's medical insurance is through OKK (I think that's it). Going to go for the standard plan. My son has asthma and there have been occassions that we needed to go to a hospital late in the night / early morning, we dont have a car. How does this work? Do I need to call a taxi? What costs will be covered (if any)...

Once again sorry if this has been asked and may be a stupid question but its happened alot where we are now, and we have a car, so simply put him in the back and go to the trauma unit.

I never tried these guys, but might be a solution:

http://www.aerztefon.ch/

Former Paramedic here.

If it's Asthma and it's late at night it is IMHO an emergency and warrants a call to Emergency Medical Services (Sanität).

144 is the phone number. Ambulance service is covered by basic insurance.

Some health insurance companies also have a 24 hr hotline, you might check with your insurance provider on this.

well there are two ways ,one is to call the emergency doctors phone,they are organised cantonally so it would be helpful if you could tell us where you are going to settle when you are here.

Other than that you can indeed also show up at the A&E of your local hospital,if you are going to live in a bigger city then they usually also have childrens hospitals.

But before you do this all, register with a local Paedratician ,more often than not you can call them first on their homeline or his/her cellphone ,they will then adivse you what steps to take or even call ahead to the hospital.

The swiss ambulance service phone number is 144

Thanks... I suppose if its not an emergency then it's for my own account.

You mention :Emergency Medical Services (Sanität)". I am new at this so please bear with me. I assume this is the national emergency facility. What are their criteria?

Do they "bill" my insurance company? Is this the service that would respond to accidents etc?

How do they insure that they are not abused, and is this literally a life/death call only that I would make to them? i.e Not for colds and flu...

Well considering their price, you can be sure no one abuses their services. Joke aside, people tend to be pretty responsible in this respect.

Sanität is the german commonly used term for EMERGENCY SERVICE / AMBULANCE SERVICE

Yes it is the service that would come and drive you and your son to hospital.

I am insured with ÖKK as well and they have an emergency number you can call for 'normal' emergencies ( obviously if your son has a bad asthma attack then call, with 144 an Ambulance)

But for other twinges at night and health troubles you can call 0844 000 724,this service is free for us who are insured with them its a 24/7 service and costs only the phonecall to a local tariff.
Furthermore i checked my list of their services and in basic covers it states that

Transportkosten,Rettungs und Suchaktionen
Schweiz:Mit Ambulanz ins nächstgelegene Spital
Ausland:Rücktransport in die Schweiz ( inkl. Luftfahrzeuge)

Bis 20'500.- Kalenderjahr/ 100.- Selbstbehalt /Fall


Cost of Transport,Rescue and Searches
Switzerland: Ambulance to the closest hospital
Outside CH:repatriation to Switzerland ( inkl. aircraft)
Up to 20'500chf.- per annum/100.- excess per case


The excess means that you have to pay 100 francs towards the cost of the bill of the ambulance and the rest wil be covered by the insurance.

NOTE: The 90% insurance /10% patient rule is in this case invalid!

Sanität = Emergency Medical Service = ambulance = paramedics



They will respond to accidents and medical emergencies, treat, and transport to the hospital.

I can't speak for the Swiss colleagues, only for the German and American system. Ambulance will treat & transport and bill the insurance company directly. Also ensures faster treatment at the hospital.

In my opinion - when in doubt, call them and explain the situation. Phone operators / dispatchers are usually medically trained and will not send an ambulance to your house with lights flashing and sirens blaring unless it is warranted. They can also refer you to local 24hr doctors or other alternatives.

It is better to have an ambulance at your house and they decide it's not really major than to not call them and make things worse.

Edit: EastEnders covered this a lot better, was typing faster while I (former marketing guy) was looking for a pretty picture.

how often does your son have attacks now? What medication is he on? I assume that, when he has an attack, he gets a session on the nebulisor and a shot of hydrocortisone?

Do you know anyone who lives near you with a car? If not ring for the ambulance. I feel for you i have 2 brothers that had asthma and i remember the emergency doctor at all sorts of hours at our house its very scary.
I dont want to go off topic well its still related i suppose my daughter is often very ill with croup and ended up in the emergency at night me driving and i have been shouted at by the doctors because i didnt have permission to take her to hospital from her doctor (the doctors surgery was closed).

Our son used to have breathing difficulties when he was young and we always used the neighbourhood taxi service to take him down to the Kinderspital in Zürich ( from Kloten ) . Very fast and efficient at odd hours of the night ..... Of course , once we got to the Kinderspital , we would have to wait anyway but the trip there was relatively quick .

Maybe a little bit off topic but you should consider becoming a REGA-patron (www.rega.ch). If you or your kids ever have to be flown anywhere by a medical helicopter yuo won't have to pay their fee if you are a patron.
Apparently "everybody" is a patron of REGA, especially if they go skiing. A friend of mine (and me) had never heard of REGA before and were only made aware of its existence after my friend's kid had to be flown to a hospital in Lausanne one night and they received a juicy bill later...

The one part that bothers me (bother is a grand understatement) is the way some people tend to publicise, use and abuse REGA as a free "get-out-of-jail" card of sorts, taking inconsiderate risks either when hiking or off-piste skiing, and then mobilising REGA's rescue resources when they could be needed at a "genuine" accident location or for a patient whose state is really dire.

That really p*sses me off to no end.

First thing you need to do is to get a pediatrician and/or family doctor (Hausartz) for you and your family. I say and/or because some family doctors are actually very good pediatricians as well. Preferably you should get one fairly close to where you live. Most villages have their own doctor.

When you have a semi-emergency, day or night, you call your doctor. He will then either answer or have a tape telling you where to call (in many cases Aertzefon). From there you will be instructed as what to do; go to hospital, go to emergency doctor on call, call an ambulance.

If you have a real emergency you either call the ambulance directly or take who ever needs care to the closest emergency room. Make sure you know where your closest one is. Note that also some of the private hospitals like Hirslanden has emergency room.

If you live in Zürich or its surroundings you can also call Kinderspital directly and they will tell you what to do.

Thank you everyone for all the responses. I feel alot better now.

I am going to leave for Zurich a week earlier than the family to try and make sure I know my way around this area... find doctors, get my medical insurance sorted out etc.

I think that its under control for now, but I had panic attacks trying to think of "what if"...

I dont know if its forum ettiquete to thank everyone, but I will if it is...