Dealing with emergency situations in Hungary

This is a great issue to cover, God forbid.
I will have to think this one over some, I probably would contact family in the US who have $$ to help out if anything huge should happen.
I did have a list of all emergency number here in Hungary that were suppose to have English operators , have misplaced the list. Good time to hunt for it.
As far as any deaths go. I suppose these things work themselves out. I know where the local cremation office is, right on my street, very creepy to walk past there daily.

It is nice to have a few ex pat friends here in Hungary to hold your hand if anything really horrid should happen.
These things happen anywhere, have experienced more then my share of such surprises.
A good scream out the window usually draws attention if all else fails.

I had cause to phone 112 once (this is the EU wide universal emergency number).  In HU, I warn you now, no-one will answer.  Don't know how that one will work out in a real emergency.  Best to have a bunch of emergency alternatives.

It's worth having drills or procedures that everyone in the household understands what to do in the even of fire, accident or need for the cops.   

Even little kids need how to phone the emergency services.

Funny you should mention that no one will answer the emergency phone when called.
My husband said the same thing.
My aunt was one of the original 911 operators back in the 1960's in the US. She said several times that people would call with an emergency who didn't speak English very well. They would pronounce the street wrong etc. and the help would not get there in time because of the mix up.
A family died in a house fire on her shift because of such a mix up. ( this was before GPS and such)
Probably best to just grab the closest local you can and let them call emergency services for you, if you are out in the country, load up the car with the injured person if possible and hit the gas to the nearest hospital.
Best to know some basic first aid.
In a natural disaster people panic no matter what language they speak. Best to have a few days supply of food and water in the home, if you staying in a hotel, guess your at their mercy.
Hungarians have had experience in emergency situations all through their history. I know in 56 my husband was just a small boy but the whole family went back underground as they did during WW11, down in the cellars. All the people in the house went below and just carried their mattresses with them, they cooked there or when things got quiet one or two people would go to their flats and cook up a quick pot of something and share.
My husband was not allowed from below for several weeks or longer, his mom kept all her kids underground until everything was settled down.
Be ready to rough it I suppose. At least in Hungary there is a lake of water underground, not like a situation where one is stuck in the desert with no water. However taking a chance outside to collect water could be an issue, one could possible be shot or taken away depending on what is going on with a curfew or military guard.
Sounds really horrid but as as child during the Cuban  deal in the 1960's, my mother told us not to give it a second thought.
Several of our neighbors had bomb shelters and we asked what we would do. She said not to worry since she would be ready at any moment if needed to turn on the gas and give us all a few of her sleeping pills, she would make sure we were gone before she did away with herself with one of her many weapons.
Not exactly a very comforting thing to hear from one's own mother but in some cases going out in style is best.
No fear is the best way to live, I know from experience when something happens in an emergency one reacts the best they can and things work out in the end.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Sounds really horrid but as as child during the Cuban  deal in the 1960's, my mother told us not to give it a second thought.
Several of our neighbors had bomb shelters and we asked what we would do. She said not to worry since she would be ready at any moment if needed to turn on the gas and give us all a few of her sleeping pills, she would make sure we were gone before she did away with herself with one of her many weapons.
Not exactly a very comforting thing to hear from one's own mother but in some cases going out in style is best.

You are right, that's absolutely a horrid thing to tell a child.

Scare the bejesus out of anyone that would.  Vaporised by nuclear bomb, drugged out of existence or shot by Mum. 

I recommend people watch the 1983 movie Testament with Jane Alexander and William Devane as a snapshot of the times in the early 80s (ok, not the 60s) and the fear of nuclear war. Captures I think more the way things could unfold, at least in the USA anyway.  Small scale movie but quite hard hitting in a low key way.

Yes, my  mum was a bit too real with us, many of my generation also had parents that told it as it really was, very blunt etc.
Now at the age I am I understand more where she was coming from.
Darn, bad enough in grade school they made us crawl under our school desks and put our hands over our heads like that would ward off any nuke fall out! Crazy times to grow up.
I am not an alarmist but know from experience that when the you know what hits the fan,most people will only gather in small groups of like minded people or it is every man for himself.
I had a home in a semi"posh" area in S. Cal during the Rodney King Riots in S. Cal. we were at least 50 to 60 miles away from the major rioting.
The day of the riots I didn't panic but went to the local grocery shop to buy bread and milk because it was just time for it.
I have to tell you, when I got to the store in a posh shopping mall, every bottle of water was gone by noon, all the TP was out and there were only about 2 packages of hot dog buns left on the bread shelf.
That was only a few hours into the curfew and rioting on the news.
Best if people learn how to make flour soup as many people ate for weeks in Hungary during WW11 if they were lucky enough to even have that. always want to loss those last 5 lbs, not the best way to diet though.

When I think about it, language is not really so much the issue as having bad luck.
Our neighbor's son had a bad accident a couple years back here at his country house in Hungary.
He is a Hungarian.
He was not paying proper attention to what he was doing and got hurt very badly.
He was sharpening some metal gardening equipment on the concert surface when it started up, hit the hard ground and bounded up and cut his leg very, very deeply.
He was rushed to the local small country medical clinic where they wanted to just remove his leg right then and there.
He got lucky because the news went out into the village and just by pure luck a vascular surgeon was visiting the village on a family trip.
He came into the clinic and did some work on the leg to save it before he was transported to Budapest for more surgery.
The lucky , sort of , thing was during all this work to save his leg, tests done etc. they found out he had bladder cancer, if he had not almost cut his leg off he probably never would of found out about his cancer until it was too late. He still can't work around his farm, his leg was saved but a mess, uses a walker and had his bladder removed but he is still alive.

fluffy2560 wrote:

I had cause to phone 112 once (this is the EU wide universal emergency number).  In HU, I warn you now, no-one will answer.

Distressing.

But not unexpected from my personal experiences in Hungary.

Priscilla wrote:

What are the key emergency numbers you should know by heart?

Ambulance: 104
Fire: 105
Police: 107

Generic help, directs you to one of the above agencies depending on your emergency:  112

But I have never used these numbers. I do not know what level of help is available for non-Hungarian speakers. Add see comment above about the 112 number.

Good thing we live right across from a hospital be it more of a mental /drunk tank then for major surgery.
Faster in the US without argument on the way to hospital.
About  9 times had visits to the ER.
3 times for my knee going out totally, 3 times in one year for a break with my son's arm, once for my husband's arm breaking right in half, almost came off, long story with that one, once for a heart scare, once for a near death, all in all I say these things work out without much language having to be used, a few screams usually does draw attention.
Had to call up an ambulance in Hungary in 1986, husband fell down a flight of marble stairs and could hear his ribs cracking.
Very strange experience in Erd.
We tired to do things the " Hungarian Way" ring up the local emergency doctor on call, have her come over and have her call up the ambulance, this is how it went back then.
What a bunch of clowns those drivers were.
First off it took them about 3 hours to come to the house to pick up my husband. There were already 2 injured men already inside the van. One was holding his bloody head together with a dirty rag. The other was half out of it.
My husband may of had a punctured lung for all we knew, for sure he almost passed out in the fall and was not able to catch his breath for at least 5 mins after the slip and fall.
Those clowns placed him on a seat in the van and went way too fast down the super lumpy, bumpy dirt road, my poor husband was screaming in pain with every bump in the road.
He asked them to slow down until they got onto the gravel road but they just copped an attitude and actually said to him, sorry but we are not in America, they had his passport in hand and were almost angry that he had the nerve to call them at all. He finally had to demand they let him out of the ambulance because they were causing more injury then good.
He was hanging onto skinny ol' me for support down a dusty dirty road with broken ribs.
We walked down the dirt road and thankfully his brother heard what had happened and had followed the route, he picked us up and drove us into Budapest to the hospital.
X rays done and just told to lay in bed for 2 weeks time, what a fun vacation that was.
I wish I was making this up but it is true.

In addition to the numbers klsallee has given (Thank you!), I would suggest that if you have a good native friend, to call them as well.  If they don't know ways to work the system to your benefit, they often know people who do, or know how to directly contact assistance.  The added benefit of language barrier also evaporates.

As violence in Hungary is rare (if you've ever lived in the US, you could call it "extremely rare"), I assume that most emergencies would be medical.  It pays to know a few numbers, like your doctor's phone number (mine is very understanding), or a nurse's, or some such.  Go out and make Hungarian friends -- they'll help! :-)

A couple of days back while out for a walk we noticed a middle aged women laying near the steps of the underground.
She was on her back and by standers had propped her legs up with her suitcase.
There were several people near her and it appeared that an ambulance had already been called.
My husband went over to see if perhaps she was a English speaker and to see if he could help anyway.
She was Hungarian so we just left her with the other by standers. As we walked on we saw the ambulance coming to her aid.
People do usually help others when things happen, human nature isn't so bad after all.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

People do usually help others when things happen, human nature isn't so bad after all.

In Budapest at least.

Meanwhile, elsewhere:

http://nypost.com/2010/04/24/stabbed-he … -past-him/

Maybe Hungary is not so bad after all. 

Looked at the link for the NY story, so sad, suppose people couldn't look past him and his shabby exterior. NYC, what can I say... Lived there for a bit ,both one of the greatest cities ever and also one of the worst.
I once gave CPR to older man in a shopping center in S. Cal. who looked rather ragged. I almost didn't try to help him after seeing him with his dirty T-shirt on, no teeth and no clean cut face. My pretty young 27 year old face got all red and raw because he was sporting a 4 day stubble, it was not what one hopes for when giving aid.
I was so young and self absorbed that I was almost more worried about making a mark on my brand new Guess Jeans and messing up my new haircut then actually saving him, how far I have come, at least I gave it all I could, the old dude died right then and there, not so sure I would want to experience that ever again no matter who it is or what they look or smell like.
Although allot of people were around this lady a few days back my husband told me once he was outside a medical center and a women fell to the ground outside, no one came to her rescue until he helped her off the sidewalk.He asked her if she was ok and she said yes.
When he got home and told me what happened he was very angry at himself for not actually taking her inside the center and demanding  aid from medical staff before he left her alone.
People I feel should always see even strangers as family and think how it would feel if that was their beloved laying on the ground with people just staring at them or walking past them.
Wake up call for people, poor brave but homeless person in NY.

As long as money comes before real human feeling this will keep on happening.
I admit I was silly and young but I still looked past my fallen man's looks and thought that even he had a family who cared out there somewhere. What if that was one's brother, son , father or husband, it is so easy in this modern world where everyone is so disconnected to forget we are all one family.

I think some people are willing to put themselves out there to help and other's aren't and it really doesn't matter where they live.
My cousin in NM came to the aid of a young man 3 years back who had walked into the street and shot himself in the head.
He didn't shoot well enough, he was still half alive,She got out of her car and held his head , called 911 and was with him when he took his last painful breath.
She even went to his funeral to try and comfort his parents, he was a complete stranger to her but her act of humanity seemed to ease his parents minds.
Many cars passed them by as she sat in the road holding the bleeding head of a strange young man, only a couple of cars stopped but most just kept on driving.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

....Many cars passed them by as she sat in the road holding the bleeding head of a strange young man, only a couple of cars stopped but most just kept on driving.

It depends where you are. 

In Saudi Arabia and quite a few countries, best to keep going.  If you stop, you take on responsibility, and more than likely you will be locked up for months until they figure you were just trying to help.

In some parts of Africa, you have to think very carefully if you stop.  The guy lying in the road could have 20 of his friends armed to the teeth lying in wait in the cover next to the road.

I suppose you have a point with knowing your surroundings.
I think in general in the west one is usually ok helping people.
We are not anything special in my family but in retrospect many of my family have come to the aid of strangers in need.
Back in 1964 my then 14 year old sister was with our 16 year old sister, their best friend from the UK and the British girls father, all 4 of them crammed into his tiny MG sports car going on old route 66 from Calif. to Las Vegas on their way to see the Beatles on their first US tour.
On the road they came upon a big car accident, no cell phones back then, no medical airlift etc.
They stopped and the father let all 3 girls out of the car so he could race off to the nearest town and get help.
My 14 year old sister spent the next 2 hours holding a women's hand onto her wrist. The medics later told her she had saved the women's hand by keeping the blood supply going.
Her reward was not missing the concert and knowing she made a difference.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

I suppose you have a point with knowing your surroundings.
I think in general in the west one is usually ok helping people....
My 14 year old sister spent the next 2 hours holding a women's hand onto her wrist. The medics later told her she had saved the women's hand by keeping the blood supply going.
Her reward was not missing the concert and knowing she made a difference.

Yes, that was my point.  It depends where you are.  In the West, no problem to stop at road accidents (and even obligatory in some countries) but weird stuff happens all over.

Mrs Fluffy and I once gave a lift to a Zambian policeman between Lusaka and Livingstone Falls.  I did not feel safe even with the cop riding along - if not from potential hijackers but also the cop himself.  On the other hand, in Africa, you never refuse anyone water regardless of who they are.  South Africa is an exception (always drive on). Causes a bit of a dilemma. 

Generally most people are harmless but it only takes one bad apple.  Just a case of weighing up the risk there and then.  If in doubt, drive on.

True enough, my husband visited SA back in 1975, we were thinking of moving there but glad now that we didn't.
My mom back when she was a young pretty single women who was over protected by her 2 older aunts , got a huge shock one early morning on her way to work.
It was pouring rain in her small Conn. town and she had just missed the bus.
A older "gentleman" saw the bus go off and her standing there getting wet.
He pulled up and asked if she needed a ride. She knew better then to get in a car with a strange man but she let her guard down since he looked like a nice grandfather type, it was pouring and she just didn't want to be late for work.
She got in his car and drove on.
He after a bit  he took a crazy turn up a dirt road, she was freaking out asking what was going on etc.He said it was a short cut, all of a sudden he had to stop the car because some road work was going on and his car had to stop. Mom, took her umbrella and pounded the old man with it. jumped out of his car and towards the safety of the road workers. She was too upset to tell them about what  happened.
She cried her eyes out, got soaking wet and muddy and of course missed that day of work, walked in the pouring rain home to her aunties who berated her for taking a ride with a stranger, learned her lesson for sure.
See what I mean by having a trusty umbrella around, never know when you will need one to pound a rude strange man over the head with or to shove up their bottom.
Sometimes even an innocent looking stranger is a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Funny thing, years ago when my HU husband was a taxi driver in Las Vegas, he often had single women ask for him to drive them. The drivers had to wait in line for their turns but these ladies would just jump in his cab and say they were willing to wait until it was his turn to take off with a ride. Guess he has a sweet grandfather type of safe face. He looks harmless enough... If they only knew, ha,ha just kidding.

Yes it all just matters how people are and where you are at. Back in Florida i had a voilent attack in broad daylight at a shopping mall with about 20 people around me that did nothing to help and even the cops did not bother when called by the security guard who was a retired cop himself! Then when my dad was coming out of surgery in 2013 he was in a wheelchair for a few months. I would park him somewhere and like go to the counter to pay for something or whatnot. One time at the pharmacy i went to pick up his meds and he was just a few feet from me and out of the blue some strange woman came out of no where and grabbed the back of the wheel chair and started pushing him out the door! "He was yelling help this is not my daughter, i do not know this woman!" I ran out the door forgot to sign for his meds, no one at the store stopped her or anything. I ran up too them my dad was hitting and pulling on the woman and people just kept walking buy saying nothing. She dumped him out of his chair in the street and kept going with the wheelchair, i of course went to help my dad. Then this guy that saw him yelling and hitting the woman and realized she was not his person he parked his truck in the middle of the street and pulled out a stun gun and tasered her. He then got my dads chair back and helped him get in it. the woman was just laying there like shaking and stuff. We just left.

So people are crazy! The pharmacy never even bothered to see about what happened or the meds. I went back in to sign and they said oh people steal meds anyway oh well.

I think people look for easy targets really. Like me when i was out as a single woman alone or like when my dad was in a wheelchair then he was more defenseless.

Here in Hungary we have not had any issues like that. He still uses a cane to walk but never had anyone try him. But one thing we have had happend a few times is people run up and try to steal our food like at the mall food court and cafes with outside dining. We ordered some food and this guy came up on my dad while he was eating and tried to take the plate right while he was sitting there. The guy did not realize my dad is left handed so when he came up on that side my dad was able to grab his cane and hit the guy with it really quickly. Poor lasagna was lost but the waiter saw that and replaced it. I have seen people grab food off peoples plates at westend mall and someone grabbed my food  after i ate it before the help could clear my plate. This is in D 5 which i thought was high end! But if someone is that hungary in Hungary then let them have it! i could stand to lose weight anyway!

But i will say from what i have seen Hungary is pretty good about general helping people in public situations i would say better than US.

I will say contrary to what people say, the younger people are more mean and  cold hearted than the older people. Most times the younger ie under 40 crowd tend to refuse to speak English and be mean than older ones. Not even toward me but to other Hungarians even.

Other countries are different. I remember in Norway i just broke a heel noting medial just cheap shoes gave way. This guy was all helping and concerned and the called over 2 different women they came over and were all asking if i was ok, a 3rd woman came over and was asking if i have damage to my ankle or knee the medics at the store came over and were telling me where to go for emergency treatment is something later swells up. It was silly.

England was like that when my dad went there, they thought since he was black and from USA he must be stressed due to the oppression so he kept getting people inviting him for free pints and meals. He met some strange couple whos wife was pregnant and he lived with them for a week! They named their daughter after me actually. I told him u can not just go off with strangers all the time. He said oh yes you can in England i did it all the time. I said England produced Jack the Ripper but he was like you are not a whore so no issues with him.  So whatever.

FeliciaOni wrote:

..... He met some strange couple whos wife was pregnant and he lived with them for a week! They named their daughter after me actually. I told him u can not just go off with strangers all the time. He said oh yes you can in England i did it all the time. I said England produced Jack the Ripper but he was like you are not a whore so no issues with him.  So whatever.

That's a really weird story.  We have our own crazy people to match the likes of Son of Sam etc.

There are loons everywhere.  Around here, every story about bad things seems to come from Pecs or Graz (in Austria - where Arnold Schwarzenegger comes from).  Austria is particularly known for odd goings on (e.g. Herr. Fritzl not to mention a certain Mr H from Braunau). 

Mrs Fluffy's aunt had a friend who disappeared.  Her husband had done her in, dismembered her and hidden her in the roof of the house! Penalty here is very low - he was probably out in 10 years. 

Strange stuff happens in Budapest.   There used to be a hospital near the Irish pub close by the Parliament.  Some guy was dead in a van outside the hospital for about 3 weeks before anyone noticed.  He died of a heart attack.  The assumption was he drove himself to the hospital, parked up and then expired before he could get help. The story was he collapsed in the vehicle and was hidden from view from people passing and no-one thought to check.  This was way before they had parking tickets and you could park anywhere.

On the other hand, odd things can be totally innocent. I was in a pub once with some colleagues in Amsterdam and some guy with a Thai wife invited most of the pub back to his place at about 2am whereupon his wife cooked up a really fantastic Thai dinner (or was it then breakfast?) for about 12 people.  Very nice.

A relative was with a group of friends in the pub, met German guy, then took him back to my relative's home where they played Trivial Pursuit until 6am and got totally drunk.  The German guy looked bewildered for most of the time.   He got a taxi back to his hotel. But I always wondered if he told the folks back in Germany that it was great hospitality or just strange.

FeliciaOni wrote:

We ordered some food and this guy came up on my dad while he was eating and tried to take the plate right while he was sitting there. The guy did not realize my dad is left handed so when he came up on that side my dad was able to grab his cane and hit the guy with it really quickly.

Do be careful with that. In many European countries, including Hungary, using such force is against the law, even to prevent a crime (the only exception that I am aware of in Hungary is if you do so in your home -- but even that has limits). The attempted thief could have gone to the police and reported what your father did as assault, and your father might have been the one that was arrested, not the attempted thief.

That is, USA legal expectations do not necessarily apply here.

fluffy2560 wrote:

That's a really weird story.  We have our own crazy people to match the likes of Son of Sam etc.

See the "Angel Makers of Nagyrév" (Yeah, in Hungary):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_Mak … gyr%C3%A9v

Wow, I doubt I can top these tales, interesting stuff.
I left home without parental consent when I was 17, ran off with a older girlfriend and a few gay men into a flat in Hollywood. ( My friend was my older sisters good buddy 4 years my senior, my version of running away to join the circus)
Just going through those hard teen years, 6 months on the lamb.
I later heard from my mother that she couldn't sleep those 6 months because of worry, The Hillside Strangler or one of those mass insane murderers  was running around the Hollywood Hills about the time I took off for my adventures.
Of course being a teenager I never even thought about anyone getting in my way.
I am not sure about that law in HUngary, I feel if anyone invades my space they are fair game. The 2 times I had to use my mild force on strangers in HU they had first put their hands on me,not sure how the law would go in self defense.
I don't worry about such things when they happen, I just act.
I know a few years back right outside of our flat a 60 year old women was pushed to the ground and a young man ran off with her bag. People got out  of their cars and chased him down, held him to the ground while the police were called out.
The women was sent to the hospital, the police just gave that punk a ticket to appear in court, told the by standers that since her bag was reclaimed there was not real crime done?
What about his attack on her and her going off to hospital?
Our next door neighbor beat a man and women in our building a few years back, the cops came out, rang our door by mistake at 11:30 at night.
Our neighbor was arguing with the 2 cops and they just gave him a ticket to appear in court. We saw his name in the local paper because he had to pay a large fine.
No jail time for him from what we know, if he did spend time in jail it must of been very short like a long lost weekend.
The only up side is he no longer beats the crap out of the neighbors, guess if he could afford to he would though.
I have personally seen him strangle one man right in front of me and he and his son sat on 2 men who were trying to break into the cellar, that was on the day we moved in, nice welcome to the neighborhood.

"The attempted thief could have gone to the police and reported what your father did as assault, and your father might have been the one that was arrested, not the attempted thief."

Well fine if the cops think it is cool to steal food from a Diabetic disabled old man that walks with a cane then he will just deal with that.

From what i have seen Hungary seems good with Emergencies thanks everyone for posting those numbers.

I just we do not have to use them as the best emergency is none at all

FeliciaOni wrote:

Well fine if the cops think it is cool to steal food from a Diabetic disabled old man that walks with a cane then he will just deal with that.

It is not the police that makes that call, it is Parliament who makes the law and the police must enforce it, and the local government prosecuting attorney who may or may not decide to prosecute.

Over all, only the police can go after someone who committed a crime (i.e. no personal vigilante justice allowed).

The generic law is: one can not "self punish" a crime and one can not use more force during a crime than applied by the criminal, or what is necessary to, basically, escape and inform the authorities of the crime. If one tries to grab your food, you can grab their hand and push it away (each party has a hand which is equal force), but hitting them with a cane may be considered "excessive force".

Just giving friendly advise to help you live in Hungary under Hungarian law. 

It sounds like the HU law is really off base..
If a person is handicapped and attacked by a stranger meaning hard to them, a handicapped or senior aged person might just have one or two good protective moves left in them to defend themselves and the heck with the law.
As one ages they might only have one or two good moves left before their bodies just give out on them, as my husband told me once a old person has to give it their all because they are no match in the long run for a younger person.Meaning a older person has to hit, bite or pound as hard and as long as they can before they just give out. can't play fare when one is old or ill.
Anyone who tries to steal food off a persons plate needs to be taken out by mall security.
It is a bit of a shock for anyone from the western world to see just how low some people in other places can and do go.
Today while actually in a shop a young man hit me up for money, in the US it might happen outside a shop but no way inside.
In the long run, I personally will never give a "darn" what they law is or isn't if someone is in my space they had better move on.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

It sounds like the HU law is really off base...

You may think that.

I may think that.

But that is the local law. And we are all subjects of local law. So I just am warning expats to be aware of it.