Emergency Contacts

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Emergency Contacts

Emergency numbers, hospitals, and key services for the Santa Elena Peninsula. Save these before you need them.

911 General emergency

24 h Hospital coverage

Spanish Dispatch language

Drive Fastest in emergencies

Important: Ambulance response times on the Santa Elena Peninsula can be long due to traffic and distances. If you have a vehicle and the patient can be moved safely, driving directly to the hospital is often faster than waiting for an ambulance. Hospital Granados in Salinas is the fastest private emergency option; Hospital Panchana in Santa Elena is the main public facility.

Primary Emergency Number

Service	Number	Notes
🚨 All emergencies (police, ambulance, fire)	911	ECU-911 system. Spanish-language dispatch. Covers the entire peninsula.

The ECU-911 unified emergency system covers Santa Elena Province. Operators speak Spanish. In a life-threatening emergency, call 911 first, then consider driving the patient to hospital if response time is uncertain.

Hospitals & Medical

Public Hospitals

Hospital	Location	Hours	Notes
Hospital Dr. Liborio Panchana Sotomayor	Av. Márquez de la Plata, Santa Elena	24 hours	Largest public hospital on the peninsula. Full emergency department.
Hospital IESS La Libertad	La Libertad	24 hours	IESS affiliates only for non-emergency; emergency open to all.

Private Hospitals & Clinics

Clinic	Location	Hours	Notes
Hospital Granados	Cdla. Santa Paula, Salinas	24 hours	Best-equipped private option. Ambulance fleet, ICU. Fastest emergency in Salinas.
Clínica Santa Inés	La Libertad	Business hours + emergencies	General practice and specialist referrals.

Health Centres (Centros de Salud)

Government health centres (Ministry of Health / MSP) operate across the peninsula. These handle non-emergency primary care. Key locations:

• Salinas centro
• Anconcito
• Ballenita
• José Luis Tamayo (Muey)
• La Libertad
• Santa Elena
• Chanduy

See Medical Services for the full guide.

Police

Unit	Contact	Coverage
National Police (Policía Nacional)	911	All three cantons
Police — Salinas	Local substation, Salinas centro	Salinas canton
Police — La Libertad	Local substation	La Libertad canton
Police — Santa Elena	Substation, Santa Elena city	Santa Elena canton

See Police & Security for the full security guide and practical safety tips.

Fire & Rescue

Service	Number	Notes
Bomberos (Fire Department)	911	Also reachable via unified 911
Bomberos — Salinas	Local station	Covers Salinas canton
Bomberos — La Libertad	Local station	Covers La Libertad canton

Coast Guard & Maritime

Service	Contact	Notes
Armada del Ecuador (Navy) — Base Naval Salinas	911 / VHF Ch. 16	Maritime search and rescue. La Chocolatera.
Capitanía del Puerto — La Libertad	Local office	Port authority for fishing and recreational vessels.

VHF Channel 16 is the international distress frequency for maritime emergencies.

Utilities & Other Services

Service	Notes
AGUAPEN (water supply)	Water utility for the peninsula. Report outages or contamination.
CNEL (electricity)	National electricity distributor. Report outages.
Gas supply	Distributed by private dealers; no piped gas network.

Poison & Medical Hotlines

Service	Number
Poison control (national)	1800-000-911
Red Cross Ecuador	131