CODU
Published 4 November 2026, 00:38
CODU — Centro de Orientação de Doentes Urgentes (ambulance dispatch centre)
INEM's dispatch centre. The medical side of a 112 call is passed here, and the SNS 24 line also transfers calls here if a case is judged urgent. Staff ask about the patient's condition, prioritise calls by severity, decide which crew to send and tell you over the phone what to do until it arrives.
Where you come across it. any ambulance call, whether through 112 or transferred from the SNS 24 line.
The dispatcher's long list of questions is not a delay but triage: the answers decide which crew is sent. Calls are handled in Portuguese and English.
Official website: inem.pt/2017/05/25/centro-de-orientacao-de-doentes-urgentes