Most group leaders have a rough plan for an emergency that amounts to "call the embassy." It is worth knowing, before you need it, exactly what the embassy will and will not do. The regulation is explicit: a consular officer must extend every possible aid within their power to distressed Americans, and must not spend government money or pledge government credit doing it. They will help. They will not pay.
The short version
- The consulate assists; it does not fund. That is written into the regulation.
- Carry the post's emergency number, which for most destinations is not the switchboard.
- Every traveler needs their own insurance, in their own name, with the number to hand.
- Write the plan down and give a full copy to a second person on the trip.
- Your first job is accounting for people, not solving the problem.
What You Need to Know
What a consular officer actually does
Under 22 CFR Part 71, consular officers must extend every possible aid and assistance within their power to distressed U.S. citizens, but shall not expend the funds nor pledge the credit of the United States government for that purpose, except in narrow cases or as specifically authorized. The scale of that limit is easiest to see at the extreme: even the emergency medical assistance program for U.S. nationals incarcerated abroad is normally reimbursable, with the prisoner asked to sign a promissory note.
What they do provide is substantial and is not money: contact with local authorities and hospitals, help reaching family, information about local legal and medical resources, replacement of a lost passport, and after a catastrophe a report to Washington naming the Americans killed, injured, and known to be safe. A traveler seeking consular services may also be accompanied by a third party of their own choosing, at their own expense, which is how a group leader can go with somebody.
The number to carry
Each post publishes a contact block in the State Department's country information, and 206 of the 211 destinations publish an emergency telephone number. In 128 of those the emergency number is a different number from the main switchboard, so carrying only the general line means calling the wrong one out of hours. Five publish no emergency number at all, and two posts are recorded as having suspended operations. Copy the right number into your contact sheet before you go, per destination, and carry it offline.
The one nobody plans for
If a member of the group dies abroad, the regulation is equally direct. Under 22 CFR Part 72 a consular officer has no authority to create government or personal financial obligations in connection with the disposition of remains: responsibility for the remains and all related costs rests with the legal representative of the deceased. Local law governs what happens, and may require an autopsy, forbid cremation or require burial within a fixed period. If funds are not available within the period local law allows, the remains must be disposed of by the local authorities. The consular officer will notify the next of kin by telephone as soon as possible and follow up in writing, and will provide a certified Report of Death within six months.
This is the single strongest practical argument for insurance that includes repatriation, bought by each traveler in their own name, and it is why that item is on the checklist rather than being optional.
How It Works
In the first hour of any emergency your job is not to solve it. It is to account for everybody, establish what has happened, and make two calls: to emergency services or the hospital, and to the insurer's assistance line for the person affected. The insurer, not the consulate, is who arranges and pays for medical treatment, evacuation and repatriation. The consulate is who you contact for anything involving local authorities, detention, a death, or a lost passport.
The second thing that matters is that the plan does not depend on you. Give the deputy the full contact sheet, the itinerary, the insurance numbers and the consular numbers, and tell the group who the deputy is. On the day you are the person in the ambulance, the plan has to keep working without you.
What to Do Before Your Trip
- Record the emergency telephone number for the nearest post at every destination, and the local emergency number.
- Build a contact sheet: traveler, emergency contact, insurer, policy number, assistance line. Carry it offline and give a copy to the deputy.
- Confirm every traveler holds insurance in their own name and knows how to reach the assistance line themselves.
- Write the plan on one page: who calls whom, in what order, and where the group meets if separated.
- Agree who speaks to families at home, and who does not.
Important Considerations
You are not a medical professional, and taking charge of somebody's medical decisions is not part of the role. Your job is to get qualified help, contact the insurer, and support the person. Similarly, if a traveler is detained, the consulate can visit and can provide a list of local attorneys; it cannot get anyone released, and neither can you.
Decide in advance what you will tell the rest of the group. People will know something has happened. A short factual statement and a clear plan for the day does far more than silence, and it avoids the detail of somebody's medical situation circulating in a group chat.
Tips for Group Travelers
- Count the group at every transfer. Most incidents are somebody being in the wrong place, not an emergency.
- Agree a fixed meeting point and time for each day before people disperse. See if you are separated from your group.
- Keep the contact sheet on paper. A dead phone is the most likely complication.
- Ask travelers to carry their own insurance card and a photograph of their passport page.
- Note the nearest hospital to each night's accommodation while you are planning, not while you need it.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Expecting the consulate to pay. The regulation says plainly that it will not.
- Carrying only the switchboard number. For 128 destinations the emergency line is a different number.
- Holding the plan only yourself. The deputy needs a full copy.
- Calling the consulate before the insurer for a medical incident. The insurer arranges the treatment.
- Discussing a traveler's condition in the group chat. Give the group facts about the day, not about the person.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will the embassy pay for a medical evacuation?
No. Consular officers may not expend government funds for the assistance of distressed citizens except as specifically authorized. Evacuation is what travel insurance is for, and it is expensive.
Can I make decisions for a traveler who is unconscious?
Not as a group leader. Contact their emergency contact and their insurer's assistance line immediately; both are on your contact sheet for this reason.
What can the consulate do if someone is arrested?
Visit, notify family with the detainee's permission, provide a list of local attorneys, and monitor welfare. It cannot secure a release or provide legal representation.
Who tells the family at home?
In a death, the consular officer notifies the next of kin by telephone and follows up in writing. For anything else, agree within the group who calls families, and make sure it is one person saying one thing.
Related Travel Tips
- Group leader resources, the section this guide belongs to.
- Emergencies abroad
- Group travel safety
- Medical emergencies abroad
A trip with 24-hour support behind it is a different proposition when something goes wrong.
Verify Before You Travel
- State Department country information, for each post's emergency telephone number and current conditions.
- U.K. FCDO foreign travel advice, a second government's account of the same destination.
- 22 CFR Part 71 and Part 72, for what consular assistance is and is not.
- Each traveler's own insurance policy, which is what actually pays.