Membership
One membership. One number. No call screening, an English-speaking doctor on call, and your medical history already on file — for about what you spend on a single dinner out.
What's $20 a month to you?
Your membership means you are never turned away. Pick up the phone and the crew answers — nobody screens the call to decide whether you qualify.
EMTS membership is a monthly service agreement for emergency medical response — a direct line to our crew, with no call screening. Services you use are billed at member rates. It is not insurance. Membership terms
- No medical exam
- Pre-existing conditions accepted
- Cancel anytime
- Credit card accepted
$20 a month is about 65 cents a day.
Think about what you spent on dinner last Friday night. Not dinner every week — one dinner, once. That is what a month of membership costs.
- One dinner outAn evening. Gone by Saturday morning.
- One tank of fuelA week of driving, if you are careful.
- One EMTS membershipEvery hour of every day for a month — including the one you did not see coming.
And unlike the dinner, it is still working at three in the morning on a Sunday, when you are the one who needs it.
What the $20 covers — plainly
Transport, supplies, medications, and medical direction are billed separately at member rates. Arturo will walk you through exactly what a call costs before you enroll — no surprises at the worst possible moment.
Membership
Per person. The floor nobody living out here should be below.
- A direct line to the crew — no screening, no qualifying
- Nobody screens the call to decide whether you qualify
- Your medical profile on file before you ever call
- English-speaking physician on call
- Your registered address on your member record
- Member rates on everything below
What the $20 does not cover
The membership means you are never screened. What happens after that is billed at member rates — always explained before you enroll, never a surprise on the day.
- Medical transport
- Supplies and medications
- Physician consultation and medical direction
- House calls and clinic visits
- Air evacuation and critical care transfer
Arturo will walk you through exactly what a call costs before you sign up. Ask him for the numbers — he would rather you knew now.
Enroll
Ten minutes. Your household, your address, your conditions, medications, and allergies — on file in both English and Spanish, sitting on the crew’s tablet before they ever roll.
Your details reach the crew
Your profile travels with the call, so the paramedic responding can see who you are and what you take instead of asking you to explain it while you are frightened.
You call one number
It rings the crew directly — no call center, no call-taker, no relay. The paramedic who will treat you answers, already looking at your file on the tablet in the truck, and they are moving while you are still talking.
A membership is a service agreement for emergency medical response. It is not health insurance and does not replace medical coverage. Payment by credit card.
Language
You will not have to manage an emergency in Spanish alone.
This is the promise people ask us about most, so here is exactly what we can and cannot say.
The doctor speaks English
Our on-call physician directs every response and is reachable throughout your call.
Our Director of Operations speaks English
Arturo Villarreal answers his own phone, in English, for anything that is not a live emergency.
You reach a paramedic, not a call center
There is no call-taker in between. Our crews include medics who work in English, and if the crew on shift needs support, our English-speaking physician joins the call.
Your file removes the translation problem
Your conditions, medications, allergies, physician, insurer, and family contacts are on record in both languages before you ever call. Nothing about your treatment depends on you finding the right word.
And what we will not claim
What we will not tell you is that every person stepping out of the ambulance is a fluent English speaker. Panama is a Spanish-speaking country and our crews are Panamanian. What we guarantee is that an English speaker is part of your call — on scene, on the phone, or both — and that the people treating you already know your history before they arrive, because it is on the tablet in the truck.
The things people actually ask.
If yours is not here, ask a human. Arturo answers in English, and nobody will try to sell you anything on the phone.
Call us and we will tell you exactly what applies to you. EMTS is stationed inside Buenaventura as the community's own emergency medical service, for residents, guests, and employees — so the arrangement there is not the same as a household membership. The $20 membership is for people who live outside the community. Services beyond an emergency call, such as hospital transfers, house calls, and clinic visits, are arranged separately wherever you live.
A direct line to the crew and no screening. Nobody decides whether your emergency qualifies. Your medical history is already on file. Transport, supplies, medications, and medical direction are billed on top at member rates, and Arturo will explain those costs before you enroll.
No. A membership is a service agreement for emergency medical response. It works alongside your health or travel insurance, and we document every call so you can claim it — but it does not replace health insurance.
You can, and sometimes you should. But the nearest SUME unit to this coast is stationed in Penonomé — roughly thirty minutes of driving, once call intake is complete and a unit is free. Our ambulance is already in Buenaventura.
No — and we would rather tell you now than have you find out at 3 a.m. Panama is a Spanish-speaking country and our crews are Panamanian. Here is what we do guarantee. Our on-call physician speaks English and is reachable throughout your call. Arturo speaks English. Our crews include English-capable paramedics. And your medical history is on file in both languages, so your treatment never depends on you finding the right word under stress.
Yes, directly from Buenaventura. This matters more than most people realize: public ambulances transport to the nearest hospital that will accept you — they do not run to Panama City. If your condition needs a specialty center, that transfer becomes something you have to arrange yourself, while you are already sick. We make that decision with our physician and drive it ourselves.
That is most of what we do. House calls for an IV or an injection, a bag of saline when you are dehydrated, vitals, the clinic at Buenaventura, a paramedic escort to the airport when you are unwell but still flying, and a doctor on the phone at night.
Please do. Come to the Buenaventura station, walk through the unit, open the cabinets, and ask the paramedics how many cardiac arrests they have worked. We would rather you buy this after seeing it.
Ask about a seasonal membership. Plenty of our members are here a few months a year and want coverage that matches — including for guests staying at their place.
Credit card. Arturo handles enrollment and can answer any pricing question directly at +507 6790-4807.
Still deciding?
Call Arturo. He will tell you plainly what a membership covers and what a call costs — in English, with no sales pitch.