emergency assistance in rio de janeiro is available for nearly all types of situations, and can be reached free of charge from any phone, private, public or cellular, by dialing three digits.

190 for the police - 192 for an ambulance - 193 for firefighters are three important numbers the should be kept in hand or remembered, especially if any situation needing the assistance of these services is presented.

visitors planning trips to towns near rio should also note 199 - defesa civil, and for visitors planning on going hiking within rio, the 'search and rescue' number to call is be 21 3399.4361 or 21 3399.4350.

a special military unit of the firefighters' department, called grupamento de socorro florestal e meio ambiente - cbmerj, is the body in charge of emergency rescues and fires in forests - located on 196 rua da boa vista, the cbmerj can be contacted via phone at 21 3399.4356 / 2484.7830, via email on this link, or via this webpage where more information is available.