If this is life-threatening, call 112 (national emergency) or 119 (medical emergency / ambulance) first. 112 is the national emergency number in Indonesia; 119 is the public health emergency line (PSC 119) for ambulance and medical dispatch. Make that call before you contact us. Once help is moving, message the desk and we take over the coordination around it.
First, the only thing that matters
For a serious injury — a significant crash, a fall from height, heavy bleeding, an unconscious or barely responsive patient, a suspected spinal injury, a serious burn — the call is 112 or 119, immediately, by whoever is present. Not a hotel. Not a web search. Not a concierge desk. Everything in the rest of this article runs in parallel behind that call, never instead of it.
Why the destination decision is not “nearest”
A serious case needs a facility that can actually receive it at that moment: the relevant department available, imaging working, the right specialist on the island, a bed. A nearer facility that lacks one of those becomes a stop rather than a destination, and a second transfer afterwards costs far more than the extra distance would have. Working out which is which means ringing and asking, in Indonesian, while the case is live — a static list cannot answer it.
Who decides what
Worth being exact about, because families frequently assume otherwise. Whether a patient can be moved, what treatment is given, whether a transfer is needed, what level of escort a transfer requires, whether someone is fit to fly — every one of those is a clinical decision made by the treating practitioner. Facilities decide whether they can accept a patient. Insurers decide what they will authorise and pay for. We decide none of it, and we do not attempt to influence clinical judgement.
What actually slows a transfer
Rarely the clinical decision, which is usually made quickly. It is confirming the receiving facility can accept now, matching a vehicle to the patient’s condition, getting records and imaging to travel with the patient rather than after, and insurer authorisation for the cost of the move — which at three in the morning across time zones can be the longest single wait in the sequence. Each of those has an owner, and the coordination work is making sure someone is chasing each one rather than assuming.
What we coordinate around a serious case
Confirming the destination by phone and calling ahead so the receiving team is expecting the patient with an outline of the case. Arranging transport for the family, who are frequently forgotten in the first hour. Interpreting between the family and staff. Admission and deposit formalities. Insurer correspondence, including the guarantee-of-payment letter direct settlement usually depends on. Keeping relatives abroad informed across time zones. And, if a transfer or repatriation is decided on by the treating clinicians and the insurer, the ground logistics of it.
What we will not do
Give first aid or clinical instruction. Move a patient ourselves. Provide monitoring or treatment in transit. Advise on whether an injury is serious. Promise an arrival time in minutes. Or claim any affiliation with the facility a patient ends up in — we have none, with any of them, which is what allows the destination to be chosen on the merits of the case.
We publish a directory of listed facilities that carries its source and the date each entry was checked, and we withhold any direct line that has not passed two independent sources. Capability still changes by the hour, so while a case is live we confirm by phone, in Bahasa Indonesia, instead of relying on what a page said yesterday.
Where escalation leads is set out in second opinion and referral out of Bali; the first hour is in what to do in a medical emergency in Bali.
To reach the desk: WhatsApp +62 811-2859-0000, or email sales@balipremiumtrip.com. Sanur Emergency is a non-clinical medical coordination desk in Bali, Indonesia. We hold no ownership or management interest in any hospital, clinic or ambulance service.
Someone should be looking after the family
In the first hour around a serious case, everyone’s attention is on the patient, and the people with them get forgotten: no transport, no information, nobody to tell relatives abroad something accurate. That is a real part of the coordination work and it matters more than it sounds. If you are the relative on the other end of a phone in another country, say so, and we will keep you informed rather than leaving you to guess.
Sanur Emergency is an independent medical concierge. We are not a clinic, hospital or ambulance operator, we do not employ medical staff, and we are not affiliated with any medical facility. All clinical care is delivered by licensed providers.