Emergencies in Santa Teresa

Good to Know

• 911 works the same in Santa Teresa as anywhere else in Costa Rica, but this is a rural, somewhat remote coastal town on unpaved/rough roads in parts — response times for police, fire, or ambulance can be noticeably longer than in San José or other urban centers.
• If you don't speak Spanish, it can help to have a local (hotel staff, host, coworking staff) call 911 on your behalf or stay on the line with you, since English support is not guaranteed to be smooth.
• For non-critical injuries or illness, many nomads in Santa Teresa go directly to a local clinic or arrange private transport rather than waiting on an ambulance, given the town's distance from larger hospitals.
• There is no full hospital in Santa Teresa itself — for anything beyond stitches, wound care, or stabilization, expect a transfer to Nicoya (public) or, for serious trauma, an air evacuation to San José.
• Private urgent-care clinics in town (Lifeguard Costa Rica / Santa Teresa Urgent Care, Santa Teresa Medical Center) are the realistic first stop for emergencies and both advertise 24/7 availability with ambulance dispatch.
• Travel/health insurance with medical evacuation coverage is strongly recommended given the distance to a full hospital — evacuation costs are billed directly to the patient.
• Addresses in Santa Teresa are typically landmark-based (e.g. 'next to Frank's Place', 'east of the church') rather than formal street addresses — save clinic WhatsApp/phone numbers rather than relying on GPS addresses.