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Emergency Numbers in Costa Rica
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Who to call in an emergency…
The main emergency number in Costa Rica is 911. This number covers the following emergency institutions:
- Red Cross
- Fire Fighters
- National Emergency Commission
- National Intoxication Center
- Civil Guard
- Police Patrols
- Transit Police
- Judicial Investigation Bureau (Organismo de Investigación Judicial – OIJ)
- Read more about the 911 service (in Spanish)
There are alternative numbers to the 911 service; with the numbers below the following institutions can be reached directly:
- Police (Fuerza Pública)
Tel: 1117 - Fire Fighters (Bomberos) 1
Tel: 1118 - Red Cross (Cruz Roja)
Tel: 1128 / 2221 5818 - Transit Police
Tel: 2222 9330 / 800 8726 7486 - Drug Control Police
Tel: 800 376 4266
Understanding the Costa Rican Police Services
- National Police (Fuerza Pública) (website in Spanish). Responsible for citizen security, crime prevention and response. They patrol the streets wearing blue uniforms
- Municipal Police
- Transit Police (Policía de Transito) manage all car traffic affairs and should be contacted for highway emergencies (website in Spanish)
- Immigration Police (Policía de Migracion).These often conduct routine immigration checks at busy locations such as bars and beaches, and a passport with the appropriate stamps will need to be produced
- Border Police (Policía de Fronteras)
- Drug Enforcement Police (Policía de Control de Drogas)
- Tourism Police (Policía Turistica)
The organization in charge of conducting criminal investigations in Costa Rica is the Judicial Investigation Bureau (Organismo de Investigación Judicial – OIJ), and any crime should be reported to them (website in Spanish).