Ambulance in Hammamet

Medina, Hammamet Nord, Yasmine: three areas, three ways in

An address "in Hammamet" can refer to places several kilometres apart, so always tell us which area you are in:

• the medina and its surroundings: the lanes inside the walls are not suitable for vehicles, so the ambulance stops as close to the ramparts as possible and the crew covers the last stretch on foot;
• Hammamet Nord: hotels and residences follow one another along the coast towards Nabeul; tell us which entrance the crew should use;
• Yasmine Hammamet: the resort is laid out around the marina and Medina Mediterranea, with large hotel complexes that each have several entrances.

Give us the exact name of the hotel or residence, the building or villa number and, if possible, a meeting point at reception.

Public hospitals: usually in Nabeul

For an admission or a specialist opinion, patients from Hammamet are usually referred to Nabeul, the governorate's capital, around fifteen kilometres away, which is about 20 minutes by road. Nabeul has two separate public hospitals, each with its own entrances and departments:

• Mohamed Taher Maamouri University Hospital (CHU), the governorate's teaching hospital, which brings together many specialist departments;
• Mohamed Tlatli Regional Hospital, not to be confused with the university hospital.

Private clinics chosen by the family or by the insurer are also frequent destinations. It is always the receiving facility that confirms the admission and the department concerned: send us its exact name, the floor if you know it and the name of the person who will receive the patient.

Enfidha-Hammamet or Tunis-Carthage: the ticket decides

Despite its name, Enfidha-Hammamet International Airport is not in Hammamet but near Enfidha, in the governorate of Sousse, some fifty kilometres to the south: about 45 minutes by road on the A1 motorway. Tunis-Carthage International Airport lies about 65 km to the north, roughly an hour's drive, and longer at busy times on the approach to Tunis.

Both airports serve Hammamet, and only the ticket tells you which one to use. Send us the flight number and departure time: we plan the pick-up by working back from the check-in deadline. If the passenger needs a wheelchair inside the terminal, that assistance has to be requested from the airline, in advance.

Usual road times from Hammamet

Here are indicative durations, for the drive alone, to the destinations most often requested from central Hammamet:

• Nabeul: about 20 minutes by road;
• Enfidha-Hammamet Airport: about 45 minutes;
• Tunis and Tunis-Carthage Airport: about 1 h;
• Sousse: about 1 h 10;
• Monastir, where EMS is based, and Monastir Habib Bourguiba International Airport: about 1 h 30;
• Sfax: about 2 h 30.

These figures describe the time spent on the road with the patient, not a response time. On top of them come settling the patient in at departure, the handover on arrival and, in summer, the traffic. For an appointment at a fixed time, we start from the arrival time you need and build the schedule backwards.

The A1, its interchanges and the summer season

The A1 motorway skirts Hammamet on the inland side, and several interchanges serve the town. The one that suits Yasmine Hammamet is not necessarily the most convenient for the medina or the northern zone, so give us the precise address and we will choose the route.

Between Hammamet Nord and Nabeul, the road is lined with hotel entrances, shops and roundabouts, and traffic builds up quickly. In July and August the town's population swells and hold-ups multiply, especially along that stretch and, in the evening, around the Yasmine marina. Out of season, some hotels in Yasmine close or cut back the number of entrances in use: check that the entrance you give us will still be open on the day of the journey.

Foreign holidaymakers and travel insurance

A large share of requests involve visitors: a holidaymaker in hospital in Nabeul who needs to make their flight, a hotel guest who has to be taken to a clinic, a return to the airport after a holiday cut short. When a travel insurer or an assistance company is covering the transport, its written approval has to be obtained before departure. Have the following ready:

• the assistance company's case number;
• the patient's name exactly as it appears on the passport;
• the hotel, the room number and a contact who can be reached on site;
• the medical documents requested by the airline.

Hotel reception can pass information on, but it is no substitute for one person who follows the case from start to finish.

Arranging transport to or from Hammamet

Contact EMS by phone or on WhatsApp, day or night, telling us the area (medina, Hammamet Nord or Yasmine Hammamet), the name of the hotel or residence, the destination, and the date and time you need. Let us know whether the patient will travel seated, in a wheelchair or lying down, whether they are on oxygen and whether the doctor treating them is asking for a medicalised ambulance. A dedicated coordinator calls you back in under 10 minutes to complete the request, and we then send you a quote before anything is confirmed. For a journey to an airport, include the flight reference in your very first message.