At Your Destination: What American Consulates Can Do For You
From the Bureau of Consular Affairs website: "U.S. consular officers are located in over 260 Foreign Service posts abroad. In addition, consular agents in approximately 46 foreign cities without U.S. embassies or consulates provide a more limited but still important series of emergency and other consular services.
Providing assistance to Americans during a crisis abroad, such as political upheaval or a natural disaster, is one of the most critical tasks consular officer perform. During a crisis, consular officers look for missing Americans and help Americans return to the U.S., among many other duties to assist Americans. The State Department strongly encourages American citizens planning travel abroad to register their travel with the Department of State so that we may find you during a crisis. Travel registration is free, it’s confidential, and it’s easily accomplished online at https://travelregistration.state.gov.
Consuls also advise and help Americans who are in serious legal, medical or financial trouble, including health emergencies, arrests, deaths, missing persons, and destitution."
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