What emergency numbers and hotlines should expat families know in Bali?

Indonesia's single emergency number is 112, and it works everywhere in Bali for police, ambulance or fire; dialing it from any phone, including a local SIM with no credit, connects you to an operator who can dispatch help or transfer you to the right service. Tourist areas like Kuta, Seminyak, Ubud and Sanur usually have English-speaking staff on the line, but response speed and language skills drop off fast once you're outside the main towns. It helps to know the separate direct lines too: 110 for police, 113 for fire, and 118 or 119 for ambulance services, since some older contacts and signage around Bali still list these instead of 112.

Save a short list in your phone before you need it: the nearest hospital with 24-hour emergency care, your pediatrician or family doctor, your travel or health insurance hotline, and your embassy's emergency contact. Dengue fever and other mosquito-borne illnesses common in Bali are a frequent reason families end up at a clinic, so knowing the fastest route to care matters as much as the phone number itself. If your child has a chronic condition or disability, keep a written note of diagnoses, medications and allergies in English and Indonesian, and review it alongside the guidance for traveling to Bali with a child who has special needs so a babysitter or driver can act fast if you're not there.

Many villas and schools post a card with local emergency numbers and the nearest hospital's address written in Indonesian, which is worth photographing for your phone in case you lose signal to search. Register with your embassy or consulate if your country offers it, since staff there can help with evacuation logistics or translation during a crisis. None of this replaces an actual plan with a professional: talk to a doctor or clinic in Bali about what to do for your specific family's medical history before an emergency happens, not during one.