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Latvia: NMPD, 112 and a patchwork of devices
The state emergency medical service answers the medical side of 112 and publishes guidance for defibrillator owners, but there is no single public register. Where devices have actually appeared, and what to do with yours.
CPR in sixty seconds
- Unresponsive and not breathing normally? Gasping is not breathing. Treat it as a cardiac arrest.
- Call 112 (113 in Norway). Speaker on, phone on the floor. Stay on the line — the dispatcher will coach you.
- Push hard and fast in the centre of the chest: 5–6 cm in an adult, 100–120 per minute, letting the chest come all the way back up.
- Send somebody else for a defibrillator. Do not go yourself unless it is seconds away. Keep compressing.
- Turn the device on and do what it says. It decides whether to shock. After a shock, go straight back to compressions.
This is a reference written for bystanders, not a diagnosis, a training course or medical advice. It cannot tell you what is wrong with a particular person, and it does not replace the dispatcher on the other end of an emergency call — they can see what is near you and they will talk you through it. If you are worried about your own heart, or about a symptom, that is a conversation with a clinician rather than a page on a website.
112 and the state medical service
Latvia uses 112 for all emergencies. The medical response is run by the Neatliekamās medicīniskās palīdzības dienests (NMPD), the State Emergency Medical Service, which operates ambulance brigades across the country and handles the medical dispatch. Its dispatchers give first-aid instructions by telephone while the brigade is on the way, and the service publishes public guidance on what to do and on automated external defibrillators specifically — including a plain-language explanation aimed at people who are afraid of using one.
A patchwork rather than a register
There is no single public national register of defibrillators in Latvia. Devices have been installed by municipalities, by shopping centres and retail chains at information desks, by sports facilities, transport operators, hospitals and employers, and by local initiatives after a well-publicised collapse. Coverage is therefore uneven, urban and hard to look up: unless the device is signposted at the entrance of the building you are standing in, you probably cannot find out that it exists. The dispatcher on 112 remains the best single source of local knowledge.
What NMPD asks the public to know
The service's own public messaging is consistent with the European guidelines and is aimed at overcoming reluctance rather than teaching technique: the device analyses the rhythm itself, it cannot shock a heart that does not need it, no training or authorisation is needed to open the cabinet, and the risk of doing nothing dwarfs the risk of trying. Latvia has also been running population-level first-aid training, including practical work with training defibrillators, which is the part that turns knowledge into action.
If you own a device
Tell NMPD and your municipality where it is, in words a stranger could follow: building, entrance, floor, cabinet, hours, access. Sign it properly — the green AED symbol at the box and directional signs from the entrance — and put it in OpenStreetMap as an emergency=defibrillator node so the location becomes openly available to any map or app. Keep the monthly check and the pad and battery expiry dates in a calendar with a named owner, because an unregistered device that is also out of date is not a safety measure.
If you are the one standing there
Call 112, speaker on, phone on the floor, start compressions and do not stop. Ask about a defibrillator; in a shopping centre, station, sports hall, large office or hotel there is a reasonable chance of one, and the reception or security desk will usually know. Send somebody else. The Latvian Red Cross and commercial providers run first-aid courses, and a three-hour basic course before you ever need it is worth more than anything you can read at the moment of the emergency.
| Item | How it works |
|---|---|
| Emergency number | 112 |
| Medical service | NMPD — Neatliekamās medicīniskās palīdzības dienests |
| Dispatcher CPR coaching | Yes — telephone instructions while the brigade travels |
| National AED register | No single public register |
| Public AED guidance | Published by NMPD |
| Volunteer responder scheme | No nationwide public scheme |
| Open map layer | OpenStreetMap, emergency=defibrillator |
| Training | Latvian Red Cross, NMPD programmes, commercial providers |
Sources: NMPD — State Emergency Medical Service of Latvia · NMPD: frequently asked questions about the automated external defibrillator · Latvian Red Cross · OpenStreetMap tag emergency=defibrillator · checked 2026-09-08
Frequently asked questions
Is there a defibrillator map for Latvia?
Not a single official national one. Devices are installed by municipalities, retail chains, sports venues and employers, and coverage is hard to look up. OpenStreetMap carries an openly licensed layer with partial coverage.
Do I need permission to use a public defibrillator in Latvia?
No. Public-access devices are designed for untrained bystanders, they analyse the rhythm themselves and they will not shock a heart that does not need it. NMPD says as much in its own public guidance.
Who runs the ambulance service?
NMPD, the State Emergency Medical Service, which operates the brigades nationally and handles the medical side of 112, including telephone first-aid instructions.
Country by country
Estonia: 112, kiirabi and no national AED register
One number for everything, a dispatch centre that coaches CPR down the phone, and defibrillators scattered by municipalities, employers and shops with no single public list. What that means if you are the one calling.
Finland: defi.fi and the 112 Suomi app
The best-organised defibrillator register in the Baltic Sea region: a national database run by the heart association with the resuscitation council and the Red Cross, feeding device locations to the emergency services app.
Lithuania: a legal requirement and a service database
The one country in the region where the law names the venues that must have a defibrillator. How the 112 centre and the emergency medical service work together, and how the device database reaches the dispatcher.
Sweden: a register, a research base and SMS lifesavers
A national defibrillator register run by the resuscitation council, a quality register that has published cardiac-arrest outcomes for decades, and a volunteer scheme that grew out of the research.
Norway: 113, NAKOS and the register that is free
The medical emergency number is 113, not 112. The national defibrillator register is run by a state competence centre and costs nothing — which matters, because commercial look-alikes have been invoicing device owners.
Everything on this subject
Before the emergency, there is a long quiet stretch
Blood pressure, resting heart rate, movement and sleep are the part of this you can act on for years beforehand. TempoLife keeps them in one place, free to start.