Emergencies in Jericoacoara

Good to Know

• If you're not sure which service you need, calling 190 (police) is the standard default — Brazilian emergency operators will typically redirect you if it's actually a fire or medical situation, but dialing the right number directly is faster.
• Jericoacoara is a village within the municipality of Jijoca de Jericoacoara; the actual police station serving the area is the Delegacia Municipal in the town center, separate from the national 190 hotline.
• Public ambulance (SAMU/192) service is free but can be slower and less equipped than private options — many longer-term expats and nomads carry private health insurance and keep a private clinic's number handy as a backup, given Jericoacoara's remote, sandy-road location far from major hospitals.
• Save emergency numbers offline before you need them — mobile signal and data can be unreliable in parts of the village and surrounding dunes.
• Jericoacoara village itself only has a basic 24h emergency unit (UPA), not a full hospital — it can stabilize patients, do X-rays/ECGs, and handle many everyday urgencies, but serious trauma, major surgery, or ICU-level care means transfer to Jijoca de Jericoacoara, Sobral, or Fortaleza.
• The road between Jericoacoara village and the Jijoca de Jericoacoara town center is partly unpaved/sandy, which can meaningfully add to transfer times in an emergency — factor this into how quickly help can actually arrive.
• Public emergency care (UPA, SAMU ambulance, public hospitals) is free under Brazil's SUS system regardless of nationality, but given the limited local capacity, nomads doing higher-risk activities (kitesurfing, dune buggy rides, etc.) should carry travel insurance that covers medical evacuation.
• SAMU (dial 192) is Brazil's free national ambulance/emergency medical service and covers this area.