112 is for life-threatening emergencies, and for everything else the number you want is 088 00 30 600.
That is the Amsterdam huisartsenpost, the out-of-hours GP service, and it is the correct first call on an evening, a night or a weekend when your own doctor is closed.
Save both now, along with 0900 8844 for police matters that are not emergencies.
Which Number For Which Situation
Call 112 for chest pain, severe bleeding, breathing difficulty, a suspected stroke, unconsciousness, a serious accident, a fire, or a crime in progress.
The operator asks whether you want police, ambulance or fire brigade, and switchboard staff handle English without difficulty.
Call the huisartsenpost on 088 00 30 600 for anything urgent that is not life-threatening: a high fever, a wound that needs stitching, a suspected fracture, a child who has gone downhill overnight.
They triage by phone and either advise, give you an appointment slot, or send you on.
Call 0900 8844 to report a theft, a break-in that has already happened, a missing person, or anything else that needs the police but not this minute.
During office hours, your own registered huisarts is the first call, not the hospital.
The Referral Rule At Hospital Emergency Departments
Amsterdam hospitals expect you to arrive at the emergency department with a referral, from your own GP, from the huisartsenpost, or by ambulance.
Walking in unreferred is explicitly discouraged and will usually get you sent back through triage anyway.
That is the single biggest difference from the system most new arrivals come from, and getting it wrong costs hours.
The exception is obvious: in a genuine emergency you call 112 and the referral question disappears.
Where The Emergency Departments Are
OLVG runs 24/7 emergency care at both of its sites: Oost at Oosterpark 9 on 020 599 30 16, and West at Jan Tooropstraat 164 on 020 510 81 61.
Amsterdam UMC has its AMC site at Meibergdreef 9 in Zuidoost, near the ArenA, on 020 566 9111.
The same hospital’s VUmc site is at De Boelelaan 1117 in Zuid, beside the Zuidas.
North of the IJ, BovenIJ ziekenhuis is at Statenjachtstraat 1, on 020 634 6346.
An ambulance takes you to the appropriate hospital, not the nearest one, and it is not worth arguing about at the door.
Dentists, Pharmacies And Everything Else Out Of Hours
For dental emergencies the out-of-hours service operates from Oosterpark 9 and is reached on 0900 8602.
Pharmacies rotate a duty service overnight, and the huisartsenpost or your prescribing doctor will tell you which one is open.
OLVG’s own pharmacy at Oosterpark 9 is on 020 599 4190 and the BovenIJ outpatient pharmacy at Statenjachtstraat 1 on 020 634 6613.
If you are unsure whether a symptom needs a doctor at all, moetiknaardedokter.nl is the Dutch triage tool the hospitals themselves point people to.
What It Costs, And What Insurance Covers
Everyone living in the Netherlands must hold Dutch basic health insurance, and emergency care is covered by it.
Visits to your own GP and to the huisartsenpost do not count against your eigen risico, the annual deductible.
Hospital emergency treatment does count against it, which is another reason the huisartsenpost is the right first call.
Visitors on an EHIC or travel insurance are treated first and billed afterwards - nobody is turned away at an emergency department over payment.
Before You Need Any Of This
Register with a huisarts in your own neighbourhood as soon as you have an address, because practices near the centre close their lists and you cannot register during an emergency.
Put 112, 088 00 30 600 and 0900 8844 in your phone under names you can find while panicking.
Know your own address in Dutch, including the postcode, because that is the first thing an operator asks.
Keep your BSN and your insurance policy number somewhere reachable from your phone.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the emergency number in the Netherlands?
112, for police, ambulance and fire, free from any phone including a locked one.
Operators speak English.
Who do I call at night if it is urgent but not an emergency?
The Amsterdam huisartsenpost on 088 00 30 600, which covers evenings, nights and weekends.
They triage by phone and tell you where to go.
Can I just go to a hospital emergency department?
Not without a referral from a GP, the huisartsenpost, or an ambulance crew, except in a genuine emergency.
Arriving unreferred usually means being redirected rather than treated faster.
Which Amsterdam hospitals have emergency departments?
OLVG Oost at Oosterpark 9 and OLVG West at Jan Tooropstraat 164, Amsterdam UMC at Meibergdreef 9 and at De Boelelaan 1117, and BovenIJ at Statenjachtstraat 1 in Noord.
What number is the police for non-emergencies?
0900 8844, for reporting thefts, break-ins and anything already over.
Many reports can also be filed online at politie.nl.
What about a dental emergency?
The out-of-hours dental service runs from Oosterpark 9 and is reached on 0900 8602.
Your own dentist’s answerphone will normally point to the same service.
Will emergency care cost me anything?
Hospital emergency treatment counts against your annual eigen risico; GP and huisartsenpost visits do not.
Nobody is refused treatment for inability to pay on the spot.
