Emergencies
Emergency numbers
117, 118, 144 and 145 are the public numbers. An on-call note on a locksmith card is not one of them.
Use the public numbers for danger to a person or a fire. They are the same throughout Switzerland:
- 117 — police
- 118 — fire
- 144 — ambulance
- 145 — Tox Info Suisse, the poison line
The Confederation explains these short numbers for residents on ch.ch. If that page has moved, the numbers themselves are the ones the cantonal police and the ambulance services publish.
A card on this site that says Notfall or Pikett means the German entry mentions an on-call arrangement for that trade. It is not 117, it is not a promise of a time, and it is not a statement about language. You call the phone number on the card yourself.
Water that you cannot stop, and a smell of gas, are reasons to shut the stopcock or leave the flat and call the utility or 118, before you look for a plumber on a list. A locksmith is the right call when you are locked out and you are safe. If someone is inside who should not be, call 117.