Who to call in an emergency in East London
Ambulance, fire, police, roadside and the hospitals with 24-hour trauma units — the Buffalo City numbers worth keeping on the fridge.
Nobody looks this up calmly. You look it up at 2am with your hands shaking, or standing at the side of the N2 with a bakkie on its roof. So this page is written to be scanned, not read.
Check these numbers against the business before you need them. Private services change lines, and a number that was right last year may not be right tonight.
The three you should know by heart
10111 — police, from any phone. 10177 — ambulance and fire, from a landline. 112 — from a mobile. It routes to an emergency call centre and works even with no airtime and no SIM.
If you only remember one, remember 112. It works from a locked phone.
Ambulance
East London has both private and public emergency medical services, and which one comes depends on who you call.
Netcare 911 operates from 11 Bonza Bay, Beacon Bay, on 082 911. Private emergency medical response — ambulances, inter-hospital transfers, and scene response.
Alderson Ambulance runs on 0860 22 33 66. Private call-outs across the metro.
Public ambulances come through 10177. If you are unsure whether the patient's medical aid will cover a private response, call anyway — get them moving first and sort the billing afterwards. Delay is the thing that hurts.
Hospitals with 24-hour emergency
Frere Hospital on Amalinda Main Road, 043 709 1111, is the tertiary public hospital and the major teaching hospital for the Eastern Cape. It is where the serious trauma goes.
Life Beacon Bay Hospital on Quenera Drive, 043 748 2000 — private, full medical and surgical services.
Life St Dominic's Hospital at 50 Jarvis Road, Berea — private, with a 24-hour trauma and emergency unit.
For a head injury, chest pain, stroke symptoms or uncontrolled bleeding, do not drive yourself and do not let the patient drive. Call an ambulance. Paramedics start treatment in the vehicle; a private car does not.
Fire and rescue
Buffalo City Fire & Rescue is at 33 Fleet Street, Quigney, on 043 705 9000. They respond to fires, vehicle accidents and hazardous-material incidents.
For a vehicle accident with someone trapped, you want fire and ambulance both. Say "entrapment" on the call — it changes what they dispatch.
Police
East London Central Police Station is in Station Street, Quigney, on 043 700 2719.
For a crime in progress, use 10111 rather than the station line. Station numbers are for case follow-ups, affidavits and non-urgent reporting.
Broken down
AA Roadside Assistance – East London at 62 Kimberley Road, North End, on 043 289 0991. Twenty-four hours, for breakdowns, flat tyres and battery jumpstarts.
If you break down on the N2 at night, stay in the vehicle with the doors locked and the hazards on, and call from inside. Standing on the verge is more dangerous than waiting.
Worth doing before you need it
Put 112, your medical aid number and one ambulance service into your phone's emergency contacts — the ones accessible from a locked screen. Someone else may be the one making the call on your behalf.
Browse emergency services across Buffalo City for the full list.