What should you know about healthcare and emergencies in Pointe-à-Pitre?
Emergency number
112
Police: 17.
Updated July 2026 · Sources cited: bb.usembassy.gov, chu-guadeloupe.fr
Good to know
Good to Know
- 112 works even if your phone has no local SIM or credit, so it's the safest default number to remember as a visitor.
- The SAIP terror-alert app that France launched after 2015 was discontinued as a standalone push-alert tool for most users — the current official alerting method is the cell-broadcast FR-Alert system plus the Ma Sécurité app, so don't rely on old guides recommending SAIP.
- Since Guadeloupe is a French overseas department, all numbers and apps are identical to mainland France — there is no separate 'Guadeloupe-only' emergency number.
- For any life-threatening emergency in Guadeloupe, dial 15 (SAMU) rather than going straight to a hospital — this connects you to the French national medical emergency dispatch, which can send a SMUR mobile intensive care unit.
- The main hospital serving Pointe-à-Pitre, the CHU de la Guadeloupe, is physically sited just outside the city center in the neighboring town of Les Abymes, but is universally treated as Pointe-à-Pitre's hospital and is only a short drive from the center.
- As the region's only university/regional hospital, the CHU's ER can get very busy, and it is the default destination for serious trauma cases from across Guadeloupe, not just the immediate city.
Hospitals
CHU De La Guadeloupe (Site Pointe-à-Pitre/Abymes)
- Phone
- 05 90 89 10 10 / 05 90 89 10 79
- Hours
- Emergency department (urgences) open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- Address
- Route de Chauvel, 97159 Pointe-à-Pitre Cedex (physically located in Les Abymes, adjacent to Pointe-à-Pitre)
- Trauma Level Designation
- Not classified under a US-style Level I–IV trauma system (France does not use this scale). It is the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) / Centre Hospitalier Régional (CHR) for the whole Guadeloupe archipelago, meaning it is the highest-tier, most specialized public hospital on the island and functions as the main referral center for serious trauma, along with a dedicated SAMU/SMUR emergency medical service.
Departments Relevant To Emergencies
- Accueil des urgences (general medical & surgical emergency admission)
- Urgences spécialisées Médico-Judiciaires (UMJ) — forensic/medico-legal emergency unit
- SAMU / SMUR (emergency medical dispatch and mobile intensive care ambulance service) — reachable by dialing 15
Official Safety Apps
Ma Sécurité
- Purpose
- Official app for finding the nearest police station/gendarmerie, filing certain reports, chatting with local police, and accessing safety advice, with results localized to Guadeloupe when a Guadeloupe postal code/city is entered.
- Platforms
- iOS and Android
- Publisher
- French Ministry of the Interior
FR-Alert
- Purpose
- Automatic cell-broadcast alert system that pushes a loud, high-priority warning directly to phones within a few kilometers of a major danger zone (storm, industrial accident, terrorist attack, etc.) — no app install needed, just a modern smartphone with cell broadcast enabled in settings.
- Platforms
- Built into Android/iOS via carrier network, not an app-store download
- Publisher
- French government (via mobile network cell-broadcast, not a downloadable app)
Emergency Numbers
Police
- Number
- 17
- Description
- National police / gendarmerie emergency line for Pointe-à-Pitre and all of Guadeloupe.
- Local Station Note
- Local commissariat (Pointe-à-Pitre) can also be reached on a non-emergency line, but 17 (or 112) is correct for urgent situations.
Fire And Rescue
- Number
- 18
- Description
- Sapeurs-pompiers (fire brigade); also responds to accidents, rescues, and some medical emergencies.
Notes On Calling
- Operators on 15/17/18 may not speak fluent English, so be ready to clearly state location and nature of the emergency in French if possible, or ask for an English speaker.
- As an overseas department of France, Guadeloupe uses the exact same national emergency numbers as mainland France (17/18/15/112), not a separate Caribbean system.
Deaf Hard Of Hearing
- Number
- 114
- Description
- SMS/relay emergency number for people who are deaf or have difficulty speaking or hearing; can also be used by anyone if voice calling is not possible.
Medical Ambulance Samu
- Number
- 15
- Description
- SAMU (Service d'Aide Médicale Urgente) — the dedicated emergency medical/ambulance dispatch line, connected to the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire in the Pointe-à-Pitre/Abymes area.
Universal Emergency Number
- Number
- 112
- Description
- European-wide emergency number, works from any phone (including mobile, even without a SIM/credit) and is answered by operators who can redirect to police, fire, or medical services. Recommended default if unsure which service to call.
Healthcare
- Contact
- 05 90 89 10 10
- Primary Facility
- Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire (CHRU) Pointe-à-Pitre/Abymes
- Private Doctors Available
- Yes
- Description
- Major teaching hospital and the primary medical facility in Guadeloupe. Features 265 doctors and 900 beds with comprehensive services.
- Private Doctors Note
- Several private general practitioners in the city center
Services
- 24/7 emergency department
- Cardiology
- Vascular surgery
- Orthopedic surgery
- Pediatric surgery
- Dermatology
- Oncology
- Gynecology & Obstetrics
- Hyperbaric chamber for diving incidents
Pharmacies
- Total Count
- Approximately 15 pharmacies in Pointe-à-Pitre, with 65+ pharmacies in and around the city
- On Call System
- 24/7 on-call pharmacy system operational nightly (19:00-08:00) and on Sundays/holidays through rotation system
- Pharmacy Hours
- Generally Monday-Saturday; some pharmacies open Sunday
- Access Note
- Airport pharmacy open 7 days/week 08:00-21:45; accessible for arrivals without appointment
Services
- Prescription medications
- COVID-19 testing
- Medical equipment rental and sales
- Orthopedic products
- Parapharmacy goods
Notable Pharmacies
- Pharmacie de la Pointe (Boulevard Nelson Mandela)
- Pharmacie Frébault
- Pharmacie des Isles
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
Sources cited for this category
These are the sources cited in this emergencies research for this city. Individual figures may not each trace to one of them.
More About Pointe-à-Pitre
Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.