Guide · Practical

Hospitals, pharmacies and summer health in Alaçatı: heat, sun, allergies, upset stomach

In Alaçatı and Çeşme call 112 in an emergency; Çeşme State Hospital's emergency service is open 24 hours, the private option is Medicana Çeşme Medical Centre; state and private insurance, the on-duty pharmacy, and what to do about heat, sunburn, allergies and food poisoning in summer.

In an emergency in Alaçatı, call 112. Çeşme's hospital is Çeşme Alper Çizgenakat State Hospital, whose level 1 emergency service is open 24 hours. The nearest private option is Medicana Çeşme Medical Centre in Ilıca. For small complaints you need not go far: in Hacımemiş, right near us, there is a family health centre, Çeşme 2 Nolu Alaçatı Aile Sağlık Merkezi, and several pharmacies; ask us the way. Below we have put together what to do in the most common summer situations, what the hospitals offer and which insurance they accept.

In summer the most common trouble is heat and sun. Dizziness, headache, nausea, heavy sweating, cramps and strong thirst are signs of heat exhaustion. Move somewhere cool, take off extra clothing, drink plenty of water or an oral rehydration solution from the pharmacy, wet the skin with cool water and fan it; you should feel better within half an hour. If not, or if there is a very high temperature, hot skin that is not sweating, fast breathing, confusion, a fit or loss of consciousness, it is heatstroke: call 112 and keep cooling while you wait. For sunburn, get into the shade, take a cool shower, use an unperfumed moisturiser, drink plenty of water and avoid alcohol. See a doctor for blistered or swollen skin, a fever, chills or feeling very unwell.

New food and the heat can also upset the stomach. With food poisoning, rest, sip plenty of fluids, avoid fatty and spicy food and fizzy drinks, and ask the pharmacist for rehydration salts. See a doctor if you cannot keep fluids down, if there is blood in diarrhoea, or if vomiting lasts more than two days or diarrhoea more than a week; call 112 for blood in vomit, sudden severe stomach pain, confusion or serious difficulty breathing. In an allergic reaction, to food or a bee sting, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, difficulty breathing, wheezing, dizziness and a spreading rash are signs of anaphylaxis: use your adrenaline auto-injector if you have one, call 112 and say 'anaphylaxis', lie down with your legs raised and do not stand up.

The state hospital has clinics for internal medicine, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology, general surgery, orthopaedics, cardiology, neurology, eyes, ENT, dermatology, chest diseases, urology, infectious diseases, psychiatry and dentistry, plus radiology, a laboratory, haemodialysis and wards. Appointments: 182 or MHRS. In the emergency service patients are triaged first and examined whatever their insurance; documents come later. Medicana Çeşme is a medical centre with an emergency service, 13 beds and two operating rooms, with internal medicine, paediatrics, gynaecology, cardiology, orthopaedics, ENT, eyes, dermatology, general surgery and neurology, MRI, CT, ultrasound and a laboratory. Its site does not give the emergency hours or say whether it is open all year; call before you go. For serious cases the nearest large private hospital is Medicana International in İzmir.

The state hospital serves patients insured with Turkey's SGK. Patients insured in a country with a social security agreement with Turkey are treated with the health entitlement form from their own insurer; patients without insurance are treated as paying patients with an ID or passport. Medicana states that all its branches accept SGK; the insurers contracted with its Çeşme centre include Allianz, AXA, Anadolu Sigorta, Bupa Acıbadem, Mapfre, Sompo, Türkiye Sigorta and Zurich, with the current list on its site. Under SGK rules, no hospital, contracted or not, may charge SGK patients a co-payment or extra fee for emergency care. If you come from abroad: EHIC and GHIC cards are not valid in Turkey. Take travel health insurance that covers treatment and, if needed, evacuation, call your insurer's assistance line when you reach a hospital, and keep invoices and reports.

The on-duty pharmacy changes every day. On e-Devlet, open 'TİTCK Nöbetçi Eczane Sorgulama', choose İzmir and then Çeşme: today's and tomorrow's on-duty pharmacies appear with address, phone and map, no login needed. Call before going at night. In the daytime, for minor complaints, sunburn or an upset stomach, the pharmacists near us can help. If you have a serious allergy or take a regular medicine, bring enough with you. For the weather see our page on Alaçatı's weather and sea temperature by month, and for the sea our page on the public beaches of Alaçatı and Çeşme.

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