Slovak Mountain Rescue Service (HZS)

All mountain areas and caves of Slovakia: seven regional centres — High and Belianske Tatras with the Pieniny, Western Tatras with the Central Beskids, Low Tatras, Greater Fatra with the Kremnica Mountains, Lesser Fatra, Kysuce, Slovak Paradise.

Mountain emergency — Slovakia18 300 · 11218 300 — Slovak Mountain Rescue Service emergency line (operations centre), 24/7; 112 — single European emergency number

Contacts HZS

Slovak Mountain Rescue Service (HZS)Horská záchranná službaHeadquarters: HZS Headquarters, Horný Smokovec 17052, 062 01 Vysoké Tatry, SlovakiaOfficial website: hzs.sk
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The Mountain Rescue Service (Horská záchranná služba, HZS) is a Slovak state organisation established by the 2002 Act on the Mountain Rescue Service and run by the Ministry of the Interior. Its headquarters are in the High Tatras, at Horný Smokovec. A professional rescue service has worked in the Tatras since 20 January 1950. The HZS rescues and searches for people in the country's mountain areas and caves, issues avalanche bulletins and warnings, monitors trail conditions and runs its own network of weather stations.

How to call for help

Dial the HZS emergency line 18 300 or 112. The best way is the official HZS app: one button connects you to the operations centre and sends your exact location, and with a weak signal you can use its chat. Say where you are and what happened, how many people are hurt and how badly, and give a call-back number. Keep your phone on.

The HZS app also offers a 'Guardian Angel' feature (it keeps your last positions), shows the nearest HZS centres, defibrillators, mountain huts and weather stations. Through the NG-SOS system it sends your location to rescuers in several neighbouring countries too, and the chat automatically translates foreigners' messages into Slovak.

Area and centres

Under its statute the HZS has seven regional centres: High Tatras (with the Belianske Tatras and the Pieniny), Western Tatras (with the Central Beskids), Low Tatras, Greater Fatra (with the Kremnica Mountains), Lesser Fatra, Kysuce and Slovak Paradise. The emergency-line operations centre and the Avalanche Prevention Centre in Liptovský Hrádok work separately.

Good to know

  • Rescue in Slovakia is charged: the person rescued pays for search and transport, while medical care is covered by health insurance. Minors are exempt. Buy mountain insurance before you set out.
  • Before a hike, log it in the electronic hike book in the HZS app: the evening before it sends warnings for your area, and if you don't check back, rescuers will come looking.
  • In winter, follow the avalanche bulletin of the HZS Avalanche Prevention Centre — published on its own website and in the app.
  • Visitors to the mountains must follow HZS instructions and report an injury or a missing person to the HZS without delay.

Stations and bases

Unit and addressPhonesDirections
HZS Info Centre — Starý SmokovecStarý Smokovec, High Tatras
HZS Avalanche Prevention and Education CentreDoktora J. Gašperíka 598/2, 033 01 Liptovský Hrádok
Get directions

Map of the stations

Official apps

  • Horská záchranná služba (HZS) — Official HZS app: one-button call for help sending your GPS location to 18 300, chat (with automatic translation) when the signal is weak, 'Guardian Angel', an electronic hike log, avalanche warnings and mountain insurance. Verify your phone number in the app in advance.

Is the rescue free

Since 1 July 2006, under the Act on the Mountain Rescue Service, anyone in a Slovak mountain area must pay the HZS for the costs of rescue or search concerning them. This does not apply to minors or persons without legal capacity. Medical care is covered by health insurance, while the 'technical intervention' (search, extrication, transport) is paid by the person rescued, whether or not they were at fault. The HZS therefore advises mountain insurance, which can also be bought in the HZS app.

Other mountain rescue services: Slovakia

Last updated: 3 November 2026. Numbers checked against the services' official websites (sources below). If a number does not answer, call 112.

Sources (9)