How to be prepared for a Medical Emergency during Travel
Twenty years ago I got a kidney stone while traveling. I was
very lucky and I had my insurance information with me and all was well, but
after that experience I realized the importance of being prepared for
emergencies. I have frequently shared
with anyone I know that travels to have their critical information listed under
ICE on their phones and on a card in their wallet. This even prepared me years later when my
boyfriend (at the time) had a stroke and I knew he had all his doctors numbers
and medications listed on his phone and I was able to call the pharmacy to make
sure none of his medication was causing his severe headache so he could quickly
get the stroke medication that saved his life!
The following is a great reminder of what you need to do right now to
prepare for an emergency at any time.
Travel 911- How to be prepared for a Medical Emergency during
Travel. Karcu 17 2015 By Kristina Portilo, CPT, MS
Recently a close friend was experiencing intense side pain that required
an unplanned visit to an urgent care. The physician at the urgent care
determined the pain was coming from her gall bladder, and the next thing she
knew she was in a hospital getting ready for surgery. Did I forget to mention
she was 1,000 miles away from home on a business trip when this happened?
This experience left me feeling unprepared. Just like any other
traveler, I have experienced my share of colds, flu, migraines and food
poisoning, but nothing that landed me in urgent care or in the emergency room.
A trip to the hospital during travel was not even on my radar until this
happened.
Similar to preparing for other emergency situations,
planning is the key to preparing for a medical emergency during travel.
Here are the factors you need to consider.
Emergency Contact
This is the emergency dial screen on my Galaxy S5. The three ICE
contacts can be dialed even when my phone is locked.
Every smart phone has the “in case of emergency” (ICE) contact
list. This is a list of contacts you select that can be accessed without
unlocking your phone. If you are involved in an accident, or taken ill, the ICE
contact could provide critical information for paramedics.
Your ICE contact should know:
·
Pertinent medical
history and allergies.
·
How to access a current
list of your other medical information such as primary care physician,
specialists, and medications.
·
How to contact your
immediate family and employer.
Choose your emergency contact strategically. It does not have to
be a family member but it should be someone who is aware of health concerns or
any on-going medical issues. Here are a few tips for setting up the ICE list in
your phone:
·
Have more than one ICE
contact in case one is unavailable or one is traveling with you.
·
Do not use choose two
ICE contacts that could be traveling with you at the same time (i.e.: spouse
and child).
·
Include every method
of communication you have for each ICE contact (cell phone, work phone, home
phone, and email).
Medication and Allergies
Many prescription drugs like warfarin have side effects that could land you in the hospital when
mixed with certain foods, supplements, or antibiotics. To avoid making a
medical situation worse, it is critical to know the types of medication you are
taking. In addition to medication, you need to remember vitamins, nutritional
supplements, and herbal products. Lastly, if you have any reactions or allergies
to certain medication or something like latex, make a note on your medication
list.
If this is how you travel with your pills, make sure you have
documented the type and dosage of each.
If you are traveling, more than likely you will not have the
full size medication bottles with you. Here are three ways to document your
medications and allergies:
·
Create a gallery in
your phone and take a photo of each bottle to show the label including dosage
and ingredients (if it has other ingredients).
·
Create a contact in
your phone called “medications” and list each medication and dosage in the
notes section of the contact. Include this contact as an ICE*.
·
Hand write a list of
your medications with dosage information and place it in your wallet.
It is not necessary to expect your ICE contact to have this
information memorized, but it is important that your ICE contact knows exactly
where to find it. Make sure you share the location or provide them with a copy.
Insurance
Even with the best intentions, it is not a guarantee you will
have your insurance card if you have a medical emergency during travel. I took
mine out one time to provide my insurance information over the phone before an
appointment, it got lost in the shuffle, and I found it at the end of the year when
I was scanning receipts. Take a photo of your insurance card and make sure at
least one of your ICE contacts has a copy of it. Alternatively, you could
create a contact in your phone called ICE-Insurance and enter basic information
into your phone.
Travel and Meetings Schedule
Your ICE contact needs to be aware of your travel and meeting
schedule. This is especially important if you do not have an assistant or
you are a solopreneur.
If you are in the hospital, your client needs to know as soon as
possible that you are not coming due to an emergency, and that you will
reschedule when you are feeling better. If you are dealing with an emergency,
you are not going to be able to make these calls, but someone will need to.
Your health is your main priority, but you certainly do not want to have a “no
call, no show” with someone who is a potential customer or who may have
already paid you to be there.
·
Make sure someone has
access to, or knows how to gain access to, your calendar.
·
Enter specific
information on your calendar for appointments including meeting location,
contact name, and phone number.
·
Enter your travel
itinerary onto your calendar including confirmation numbers. Services like TripIt make this really easy.
After the important issues are hashed out, make sure your ICE
contact or assistant calls your airline and cancels or reschedules your return
flight. Do not expect the airline to refund your ticket if you are
hospitalized, there are no laws requiring them to do so. If you have a priority
status, your airline may decide to waive your rebooking fee, but unless you are
flying on Southwest you will likely have to pay a rebooking fee.
Start Planning
While we all hope to never actually need to use an
emergency medical plan during a business trip, it is a good idea to have all
the information in an easy to access location. I designed a simple
checklist for you to use to create your emergency medical plan along with a one
page document to print. I followed the checklist and it took 20 minutes of my
Sunday afternoon to complete. I will gladly trade 20 minutes of my Sunday
afternoon now to prevent wasting precious time during an emergency medical
situation trying to locate this important information.
*When using the ICE function on your phone you may be required
to use a number in order for the contact to appear on your lock
screen. You do not need an actual phone number, a single number will do.
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About the author
Kristina Portillo, MS,
is the founder of Business Travel Life. Kristina is a National Association of
Fitness Certification (NAFC) credentialed Certified Personal Trainer and
Nutrition Coach. There are two things that she has been passionate about most
of her life. Travel & Fitness.
Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at
www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at
www.snapfirstimpressions.com. Also check out Patti's YouTube channel at
http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.