Membership terms

These terms apply to memberships with EMTS, an emergency medical services company operating in Panama, stationed at Buenaventura Station, Buenaventura, Río Hato, Coclé, Panamá. Questions about a membership go to Arturo Villarreal, Director of Operations, on +507 6790-4807.

A membership is a service agreement for emergency medical response. It is not insurance, it is not a health plan, and it does not reimburse medical costs. It works alongside your health or travel insurance rather than replacing it. We document every call so you can claim against your own policy.

Membership entitles the member to call EMTS directly without screening or eligibility assessment. EMTS dispatches the nearest available unit. Response times vary with unit availability and site access. Membership is a service agreement, not insurance, and does not replace medical coverage.

In plain terms: your call is never screened and nobody assesses whether your emergency qualifies. What we cannot promise is arrival or a time — a unit may already be on another call, a gate may not open, a road may be closed. Any response time published on this site is typical, not contractual.

The monthly fee covers membership itself: the direct line, no screening, your medical profile held on file, and access to member rates.

Transport, supplies, medications, physician consultation, and medical direction are billed separately at member rates. Those rates are explained before you enrol. Services beyond emergency response — hospital transfers, house calls, and clinic visits — are arranged and billed separately.

Membership is billed monthly in advance. There is no medical exam and pre-existing conditions are accepted; we do not decline enrolment on health grounds.

You may cancel at any time, effective at the end of the month already paid for. We do not pro-rate part-months. Membership benefits, including the unscreened line and member rates, end when the paid period ends.

If payment fails, we will contact you before any membership lapses. A lapsed membership can be restarted at any time with no penalty and no new assessment.

We may end a membership where the member is abusive or threatening toward crew, where the service is used fraudulently, or where payment is not maintained. We will say so in writing and refund any unused paid period. We do not end memberships because a member calls often or because their health has changed.

EMTS provides emergency medical care to the standard expected of a licensed provider in Panama. Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be limited.

Beyond that, EMTS is not liable for delay or non-arrival caused by circumstances outside its control, including unit unavailability, traffic, weather, road closures, or being denied access to a property or gated community.

Enrolling means giving us medical information so a crew has it before they arrive. How that is stored and used is set out in our privacy policy.

We may update these terms. Material changes will be notified to members before they take effect, and continuing your membership after that constitutes acceptance. These terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Panama.