Emergencies in Willemstad

Good to Know

• Save 911 (police/fire) and 912 (ambulance) in your phone before you need them — the international 112 number is not reliable here.
• If you call 912 for an ambulance and can't get through, don't call the hospital's main line (910) instead — it can't dispatch ambulances. Keep trying 912 or call the police on 911 to be connected.
• If you're stable and transportable in a medical emergency, going directly to Curaçao Medical Center in Otrobanda yourself is often faster and recommended over waiting on an ambulance.
• The Politur tourist police (offices at the World Trade Center, Mambo Beach Boulevard, and West Point) are specifically trained to help visitors and speak English, Dutch, Spanish, and Papiamentu.
• No official Curaçao-specific safety/emergency app appears to exist yet — rely on saved phone numbers rather than an app.
• For any serious accident, major injury, or trauma, Curaçao Medical Center (CMC) in Otrobanda is the island's main hospital with 24/7 emergency and trauma capability — this is where ambulances take critical cases.
• Dial 912 for an ambulance in Curaçao (no area code needed). Don't call the hospital's direct emergency line (910) expecting them to dispatch an ambulance — they can't.
• GPS/navigation apps sometimes route people to the wrong side of the CMC building; the main patient/visitor entrance and underground parking are on the Pater Euwensweg (Otrobanda) side, while Hamelbergweg is also the ambulance access road.
• There is no official 'Level I/II/III' trauma center rating system in use in Curaçao, unlike in the U.S. — CMC functions as the island's de facto top trauma referral hospital by capability, not by formal certification level.