--- title: "Dolomites Mountain Safety: Rescue, Insurance and Thunderstorms" type: "blog-post" lang: "en" category: "Planning" published_date: "2026-10-19" url: "https://dolomites-guide.com/blog/dolomites-mountain-safety/" description: "Call 112, know what a rescue costs in each province, get the right insurance and react well to a thunderstorm on a Dolomites mountain trail." --- # Dolomites Mountain Safety: Rescue, Insurance and Thunderstorms **Published:** 2026-10-19 · **Category:** Planning > After an accident, call 112 and ask for alpine rescue. What the helicopter costs depends on the province and on your medical condition: without an emergency it can run to hundreds of euros, and the European Health Insurance Card does not cover rescue. ## What Number Do You Call for Mountain Rescue in the Dolomites? **Call 112.** It is the single, free emergency number across Italy; where it is not available, 118 takes over. Ask the operator to **activate alpine rescue**: it can be reached even when your own network has no coverage. On the phone, give your position as precisely as you can, the condition of the injured person, the weather where you are and anything that could hinder the rescuers. Stay calm, follow the operator's instructions and, once the call is made, stay somewhere your phone has reception. ![A hiker on a Dolomites ridge trail, above a valley](/images/sasso-putia-forcella.webp "Your position, the injured person's condition and the weather: the three things to tell 112") Install **GeoResQ** before you leave. The app, run by the Italian National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps (CNSAS) and promoted by the Italian Alpine Club (CAI), is free even if you are not a CAI member. It gives your position, records your outing in real time and sends an alarm in an emergency. Use the alarm **after** you have tried 112, never to ask for a route or the weather. It only works in Italy, which covers the whole of the Dolomites. ## Is Mountain Rescue Free in Italy? **Not always: what you pay depends on the province and on your medical condition, and the weaker the medical reason, the more of the bill lands on you.** The helicopter carries more than a pilot: in Trentino the crew includes a doctor, a nurse and a Soccorso Alpino technician, and in South Tyrol (Alto Adige) a mountain rescuer boards whenever the call-out is in difficult terrain. The amounts below are patient co-payments published in 2026, not the real cost of the flight: - **South Tyrol (Alto Adige).** The health service of the Province of Bolzano charges 100 EUR ($116) for a justified helicopter flight, meaning a medical reason with danger to life. Without an emergency, the contribution can rise to 1,000 EUR ($1,160) per call-out. Exemptions exist. - **Trentino.** The Trentino health service (ASUIT) charges 36.15 EUR ($42) for a necessary call-out, for a high health risk or risk to life. If you were in serious danger but unhurt, for example stuck on a rock face, and the doctor does not send you straight to hospital, the flat fee is 750 EUR ($870). An alert with no health justification at all is billed in full, from 98 EUR ($114) to 140 EUR ($162) per minute of flight. - **Veneto (province of Belluno, including Cortina and Alleghe).** Regional resolution no. 1411 of 6 September 2011 has the health system pay for the search and rescue helicopter if your condition requires hospital admission or an emergency-room examination. Otherwise, you pay. ## What Insurance Do You Need for Hiking in Italy? **Get insurance that explicitly covers rescue and repatriation.** The European Health Insurance Card pays for neither search and rescue costs nor the trip home after an accident: you need a separate policy. ![Hikers on a mountain trail facing the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, a hut below](/images/tre_cime_hikers.webp "Check before you leave that your policy names rescue and repatriation") The local alpine clubs only insure their members: to benefit, you have to join. - **CAI.** Membership includes alpine rescue insurance valid across Europe, personal outings included, up to 25,000 EUR ($29,000) per member; the 2026 cover runs until 31 March 2027. It reimburses on proof of expenses: you pay the sum first. - **Alpenverein Südtirol (AVS).** Membership covers rescue, treatment and repatriation. Rescue includes the search and the transport to hospital or out of a dangerous situation, helicopter included, if it is carried out by an official rescue organisation. ## What Should You Do in a Thunderstorm While Hiking? **On days when thunderstorms are forecast, start early and be back down by early afternoon.** That is the best protection: in the mountains, summer heat storms are a serious risk, and their season is covered in our [guide to the best time to visit the Dolomites](/blog/best-time-to-visit-dolomites/). Count the seconds between the lightning and the thunder and divide by 3: that gives the distance in kilometres, and if it is shrinking, the storm is coming towards you. If it catches you: - look for shelter straight away, a hollow, dense forest or a hut, away from isolated trees, exposed rocks and metal objects; - move at least 50 m (164 ft) away from the ridge or the via ferrata; - crouch on your backpack, feet together; - in a group, spread out rather than bunching together. ![Dark clouds over the Dolomites ridges, seen from the Lagazuoi after a shower](/images/storm-clouds-lagazuoi-falzarego.webp "On forecast storm days, aim to be back by early afternoon") The evening before, read the bulletin for the province you will be walking in: - **South Tyrol (Alto Adige):** the [mountain weather of the Province of Bolzano](https://wetter.provinz.bz.it/de/bergwetter/dolomiten) has a page dedicated to the Dolomites, with gusts and the zero-degree isotherm. - **Trentino:** the [official Meteotrentino bulletin](https://www.meteotrentino.it/previsioni/bollettino-meteorologico-ufficiale-per-il-trentino/), the weather service of the Province of Trento. - **Veneto:** the 1 pm "Dolomiti Meteo" bulletin from [ARPAV](https://meteo.arpa.veneto.it/?page=DM) gives the forecast for the Veneto mountains.