How to be Prepared for a Medical Emergency During Travel
By Patti Wood
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. I have 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) who was a pilot had a stroke. I had helped him put ICE
on his phone, so I knew he had all his doctors’ numbers and medications listed
on it. When the EMT’s wouldn’t believe me when I said he was having a stroke
and said they thought he was having a medication side effect issue 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 helped save his
life! The following is a great reminder of what you need to do right now to
prepare for an emergency at any time.
Emergency
Contact
Every
smartphone 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 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 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. 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.
Having once carried my phone on a gurney into an emergency room writhing in
pain with a kidney stone so I could call my client if I had to have emergency
surgery, I would not advise that as your best option!
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 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 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. Here is 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 for the contact to appear on your lock screen. You do not need
an actual phone number; a single number will do.
Patti Wood, MA - 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.
