Free Travel Emergency Contact Sheet (Fillable PDF, Word, Excel)

What is on the page

Local emergency number

112 works across the EU and in many other countries; 999 in the UK, Ireland and some others; 911 in the US and Canada. Write the one for where you are going, plus the tourist police line if there is one.

Passport details

Last four digits and the expiry date, not the full number. Enough to help the embassy find you, not enough to be useful to a thief if the sheet is lost.

Travel insurer and 24-hour assistance line

The number you call before going to a hospital abroad whenever possible; the insurer directs you to a facility it will pay and often arranges payment directly.

Embassy or consulate

Replaces lost passports, helps in arrests and hospitalizations, and contacts family. The phone number and the address, since you may need to go there.

Card loss lines

Your bank's international collect number and the card network's global line. The number on the back of the card is no use when the card is gone.

Home contacts with country codes

Written as a local would dial them from abroad: +1 for the US, and so on. In a hospital, a nurse will dial exactly what is on the paper.

Medical notes and medications

Conditions, allergies, drug names (generic names, not brands), doses. Responders abroad may not read your language; drug names are international.

Why paper, and why more than one copy

Phones get stolen, dropped in harbors and left in taxis; batteries die on the day of the long flight; roaming fails in the hospital basement. A folded sheet in the travel wallet, seperate from the passport, survives all of that. The US State Department and the UK Foreign Office both advise carrying written emergency contacts and copies of documents, and leaving a copy of your itinerary with someone at home. Enrolling in the State Department's STEP program (or your own country's equivalent) means the embassy already knows you are there.

The sheets here cover the people who need the information: you, the person at home, and a stranger who finds you unable to speak for yourself. The wallet card is for that third case; it's written so a paramedic who doesn't share your language can still read a drug name and dial a number.

Which sheet to use

• Trip sheet to carry: the full page, in the travel wallet, with photocopies of passports and the insurance card. One per traveling party.
• Copy for home: itinerary, how to reach you, what to do if they can't. Leave it with a relative or neighbor.
• Wallet card: one per traveler. Especially for anyone with a medical condition, for children (put a parent's number on it), and for solo travelers.

How to prepare it

1. Look up the local emergency number, the embassy or consulate in the city you're visiting, and your bank's international collect number. Write them in.
2. Fill passport last-four digits and expiry dates. Photocopy the passport photo pages and the insurance card separately.
3. Copy the hotel addresses and phone numbers from the bookings; the home copy gets the whole itinerary with flight numbers.
4. List medications by generic name with doses, and any allergies. Carry prescription copies for anything controlled.
5. Print the carry sheet and the wallet cards; email the home copy to the person at home and print one for the fridge.
6. Photograph the carry sheet with each traveler's phone.

Mistakes that make it useless abroad

• Home numbers written without the country code. "(303) 555-0150" cannot be dialled from a Lisbon hospital; "+1 303 555 0150" can.
• Full passport numbers on a sheet kept in the same pouch as the passport.
• The insurer's sales line instead of the 24-hour assistance line.
• Brand names for medications that are sold under different names abroad.
• Keeping the only copy in the suitcase that is now in another country.

Before you go: the rest of the paperwork

Work through the travel document checklist (passport validity, visas, insurance, copies) and put the day-by-day plan in the itinerary template, which the home copy summarises. If you haven't bought insurance yet, the insurance comparison checklist shows what to look for. For the household left behind, the family emergency sheet stays on the fridge.

Editing the Word and Excel versions

The Word versions are quickest to update trip by trip: keep a master with your home contacts, insurer and doctor filled in, and change destination, hotels and embassy each time. The wallet card prints two per page; use card stock and fold twice so it fits behind a credit card. All designs fit one Letter or A4 page.

Questions

What is the emergency number in Europe?

112 works in every EU country and many others (Switzerland, Norway, the UK alongside 999, Turkey). It connects to police, fire and ambulance. Outside Europe, check the country: 911 in the US, Canada and Mexico, 000 in Australia, 110/119 in Japan.

Should I write my full passport number?

No. The last four digits and the expiry date are enough for the embassy to identify you with your name and date of birth, and a lost sheet doesn't then hand a thief a complete identity.

Who should get the home copy?

Someone who will notice if you do not come back on time and who can act: a close relative, a neighbor with a key, or a trusted friend. Give them the insurer's assistance line and the embassy number too.

Do I need the embassy number if I am traveling domestically?

No. Use the carry sheet without the embassy block, or write your home-state contacts there instead. Everything else still applies.

Can I fill this on my phone?

Yes, the PDF is fillable, but the point is the printed copy. Fill it on a computer, print it, and keep a photo as backup.