Ambulance in Mahdia

From the Skifa El Kahla to the resort area

The old town occupies the peninsula that reaches out into the sea as far as Cap Afrique. You enter it through the Skifa El Kahla, a monumental gateway of Fatimid origin, and beyond it the lanes close in: an ambulance cannot always stop outside the front door. Give us the street, a nearby landmark and the floor, and the crew will plan the carrying equipment and the spot where the vehicle will wait.

The resort area, by contrast, stretches for several kilometres of beach north of the town, towards Hiboun. The hotels there are numerous and widely spaced, so the exact name of the property, the room number and a contact at reception take all the guesswork out of the crew’s arrival.

Tahar Sfar University Hospital and the governorate’s other hospitals

Tahar Sfar University Hospital is Mahdia’s teaching hospital and the main public facility in the governorate. It is often where a transport begins or ends: a planned admission, a discharge after a stay on the ward, a specialist appointment or a transfer to a department in another city. Tell us which department is involved and give us a contact name, because the entrance to use often depends on it.

The governorate also has other public hospitals, notably in El Jem and Chebba, closer to people living inland and in the south. When a patient needs to leave one of these facilities for Tahar Sfar University Hospital, Sousse or Monastir, send us the medical report and confirmation from the department that will receive them.

Indicative road times from Mahdia

These figures are rough guides to the drive itself, once the patient is settled on board.

• Monastir: about 45 km, roughly three-quarters of an hour by road;
• Sousse: about 60 km, about an hour by road;
• El Jem: about 45 km, roughly three-quarters of an hour by road;
• Sfax: about 110 km, about 1 h 30 by road;
• Tunis: about 200 km, about 2 h 30 by road.

The main public hospitals at the other end of these routes are Fattouma Bourguiba University Hospital in Monastir, Sahloul and Farhat Hached University Hospitals in Sousse, and Habib Bourguiba and Hédi Chaker University Hospitals in Sfax.

Monastir airport, the nearest to Mahdia

The nearest airport to Mahdia is Monastir Habib Bourguiba International Airport, some 50 km away, or roughly an hour by road. Enfidha-Hammamet International Airport, further north, is about 110 km away, roughly an hour and a half by road. Many holiday flights land there rather than at Monastir, so check which airport appears on the booking before anything else.

For a departure, tell us the check-in deadline and the airline, so that the schedule allows for both the drive and the formalities. For an arrival, give us the flight number: the transfer to a hotel in the resort area or to Tahar Sfar University Hospital is timed to the actual landing, not to the time shown the day before.

Roads and access: the coast, the A1 and the summer season

Towards Monastir, and on to Sousse, the coast road runs through Bekalta and a string of Sahel towns; any slowing down there comes from driving through built-up areas rather than from the distance itself. Towards Sfax or further south, the inland road goes via El Jem, where it joins the A1 motorway, a steadier ride for a patient lying on a stretcher. For Tunis, the route is chosen according to the time of day and the traffic at that moment.

In July and August, the seafront corniche and the roads around the resort area fill up, particularly in the evening and at weekends. For a planned departure in high season, build in some margin and tell us about any unusual access: a gated residence, a pedestrian street, a dirt track out in the countryside.

Returning home to El Jem, Ksour Essef or Chebba

Ksour Essef lies about ten kilometres south-west of Mahdia, Chebba further south along the coast, and El Jem inland, around its Roman amphitheatre. After a hospital stay in Mahdia, Sousse, Monastir or Sfax, the journey back to these towns is prepared as a genuine trip between cities.

In newer neighbourhoods or out in the countryside, a postal address is rarely enough: send a location pin on WhatsApp together with a well-known landmark such as a mosque, a school or a petrol station. Remember to mention the floor, the width of the doors and who will be there to welcome the patient. Journeys to follow-up appointments at Tahar Sfar University Hospital can be scheduled as soon as the patient is discharged.

Arranging a transport from or to Mahdia

Call EMS or message us on WhatsApp, 24/7, with the pick-up address in Mahdia or elsewhere in the governorate, the destination, the date, the patient’s condition (seated, in a wheelchair or lying down) and any particular needs such as oxygen. A dedicated coordinator calls you back, less than 10 minutes after your request, to go through the details. Depending on the patient’s condition, a medicalised transport can be assessed together with the department responsible for their care.

You receive a quote before anything is confirmed, and nothing is committed until you have accepted it. Based in Monastir, the EMS team works regularly in Mahdia, in the medina as much as in the resort area. In a life-threatening emergency, call SAMU (190) first: EMS is a private service and does not replace the public emergency services.