How to make an emergency plan for a parent in Nigeria

What should you decide before anything happens?

Most delay in an emergency comes from decisions a family has not yet made. Settle these while everyone is calm, ask your parent what they want, and write the answers down.

• Who decides: name one lead family member who can be reached at any hour, and one deputy. Agree that if brothers and sisters disagree during an emergency, the lead decides on the day and the family talks it through afterwards.
• Which hospital: choose a first-choice hospital near your parent's home with a 24-hour emergency unit, and a second choice in case the first is full or the road is blocked. Phone or visit both to check what they treat and how they take payment.
• A ring-fenced health budget: keep a sum set aside only for medical emergencies, held by one named person in Nigeria who can reach the hospital quickly. Agree the amount that person can release without asking anyone else.
• Who pays and how: agree each sibling's share of the monthly top-up and of any large bill, and who reimburses whom, before a bill arrives.

Why does a plan matter in Nigerian hospitals?

Nigerian hospitals often ask for a deposit before they admit a patient or start tests. A Daily Trust investigation published on 14 March 2026 reported families being asked for between ₦40,000 and ₦100,000 before treatment, including cases where the patient died during the delay. In April 2025 the Lagos State Government opened an inquiry into the death of a pregnant woman whose husband said a private clinic in Ibeju-Lekki had asked for ₦500,000 first; the Lagos Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi, said no healthcare facility is permitted to deny emergency care to any patient.

Section 20 of the National Health Act 2014 says a health care provider, health worker or health establishment "shall not refuse a person emergency medical treatment for any reason". Breaking it carries a fine of ₦100,000, up to six months in prison, or both. The Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshot Act 2017 applies to gunshot victims only: every hospital, public or private, must treat them immediately, with or without police clearance and with or without an initial deposit.

In practice, money that is ready and a named person at the bedside get treatment started faster than a dispute at the front desk. Knowing the law helps when a hospital delays care for someone who is plainly in danger. This page is general information, not legal or medical advice.

Which emergency numbers work in Nigeria and Lagos?

Save these numbers in your parent's phone and in the phones of both local contacts. Also agree who could drive your parent to the first-choice hospital if an ambulance is delayed.

• 112 is Nigeria's national emergency number. The National Economic Council reaffirmed it as the single toll-free national number on 30 April 2026 and directed every state to deploy it; in September 2026 a federal committee was still finalising how it will run, so check that it connects where your parent lives.
• In Lagos, 767 and 112 are the state's toll-free emergency lines. Calls go to the Lagos State Command and Control Centre, which dispatches the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), the Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS), the fire service and the police (Lagos State Government statement, February 2026).
• LASAMBUS responded to 44,152 of 45,277 emergency calls between 2021 and 2025, a 97.5% response rate, from 26 ambulance points (reported June 2025).

What goes on a one-page emergency sheet?

Print it, keep one copy by the door and one in your parent's bag, and share a photo with every sibling and both local contacts.

• Full name, date of birth, home address with a landmark, and any hospital card or file numbers
• Current medicines, with doses and times
• Medical conditions, for example diabetes, high blood pressure or a past stroke
• Allergies, including to medicines
• Usual doctor or clinic, with a phone number
• First and second-choice hospitals, with addresses and emergency phone numbers
• Two local contacts who can reach the house quickly, plus the lead family member abroad
• How money moves: who holds the emergency fund, how much they can release, and how each hospital takes payment
• Emergency numbers: 112 nationally, and 767 in Lagos

How should brothers and sisters abroad pay?

Pay the hospital, not a person. Ask for an invoice in your parent's name, transfer to the hospital's own account and keep the receipt. Paying directly leaves a record, means nobody has to carry large amounts of cash, and shows exactly what was paid for. Confirm account details with the hospital itself, never from a message forwarded by someone else.

Split the cost by agreement: equal shares, shares by income, or one sibling paying more while another does more of the visiting. Write down each person's monthly share of the emergency fund and how a large bill will be divided, so nobody negotiates in a waiting room. On a Kinship Plan, brothers and sisters can each chip in from their own accounts, so the monthly cost is shared before anything goes wrong.

When should you review the plan?

• After any hospital visit, new diagnosis or change in medicines
• When a sibling moves, changes number or can no longer do their part
• When a local contact moves away or becomes unavailable
• At least once a year, checking that both hospitals still treat what your parent needs and that the emergency fund still matches current prices

Questions people ask

Related

• What to do when a relative is admitted to hospital in Nigeria
• How to pay a hospital bill in Nigeria from the UK
• Choosing a hospital in Lagos
• Sharing the cost of a plan