Emergencies in Sal

Good to Know

• Save 132 (police), 130 (ambulance/hospital), and 131 (fire) directly in your phone before you need them — there is no confirmed single universal number like 911 or 112 that reliably works across all of Cape Verde.
• Operators mostly speak Portuguese/Creole, so having a translation app or a local contact who can speak for you can speed up response.
• Sal's own medical facilities (in Espargos/Santa Maria) are described as fairly basic; serious medical emergencies are typically referred or evacuated to Praia or abroad, so medical evacuation travel insurance is strongly recommended.
• Santa Maria, Sal's main tourist town, has a dedicated National Police station and a 'Safe Tourism' initiative aimed specifically at crime against tourists.
• Sal has no hospital with a formal trauma center — the island's only real emergency-capable public hospital, Hospital Ramiro Figueira in Espargos, can handle basic injuries and illness but serious trauma, major surgery, or complex emergencies typically require an inter-island flight transfer to Hospital Agostinho Neto in Praia (the country's main hospital) or Hospital Baptista de Sousa in Mindelo.
• For genuinely critical cases, the established referral pathway historically goes beyond Cape Verde entirely to Lisbon, Portugal — so comprehensive medical evacuation insurance is strongly recommended for nomads on Sal.
• Clinitur in Santa Maria is a private, English-adjacent option open 24/7 and is often the first stop for tourists/expats in that town, but it functions as a multi-specialty private clinic rather than a full trauma hospital.
• Most public facilities operate primarily in Portuguese with limited English spoken — carrying key medical info translated or having a Portuguese-speaking contact is genuinely useful in an emergency.
• Medicines and medical supplies are imported and can run short, so anyone on regular medication should bring an ample personal supply rather than relying on being able to restock on-island.