Travel Assistance - Travel for Medical Reasons

Travel assistance provides travelers with the immediate support and assistance on the ground in the case of an emergency. Older travelers often find that the security of travel assistance is more important than it might have been 20 or 30 years earlier, Here are some of the services provided by companies that provide these services. With travel assistance travelers have both the support and assistance on the ground immediately in the case of an emergency.

Medical evacuation

(sometimes also referred to as “med evac” or “medivac”) Medical Evacuation is the transfer from one hospital to another for emergency medical treatment. Medical evacuation doesn’t happen when you break your leg and just want to come home. Rather, it’s coverage to get you to a better hospital or to your hospital of choice back home when you need ongoing, inpatient care for a serious illness, injury, or other medical condition.
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Some people travel to amazing places off the beaten path where the medical care isn’t always great,; meaning lack of proper medical specialist for your condition, insufficient equipment, or substandard quality of care. When that happens, medical evacuation moves you from a facility that is inadequate to a hospital that is better suited to give you the most appropriate care.

How does medical evacuation work?

It typically works via private air ambulance, often a Lear 35 or 36 jet. Remember, medical evacuation is for those with a serious medical condition and who are hospital inpatients. The patient is usually strapped to a stretcher with a nurse, EMT, or physician attending to any IVs, medications, and other appropriate treatments to keep the person’s condition stable for the flight. Because these planes are small, there’s usually only room for one of the patient’s traveling companions to accompany him or her on the plane, and there usually isn’t room for more than the bare minimum of carry-on luggage. The more weight on the plane, the more fuel stops it requires and the slower it arrives at the receiving hospital where the patient needs care.

Why might someone need medical evacuation coverage?

Everyone expects their trips to go off without a hitch, and most times they do. However if you experience a serious illness or injury away from home, especially if the medical care is not adequate to treat your condition, having a medical evacuation service is critical to ensuring you get to better care and/or home to your own doctors.

Additionally, medical evacuation coverage not only protects your health and well-being, but also your family’s finances. For example, an air ambulance from Europe to the US could cost more than $50,000, and up to $100,000 or more from China.

Making sure this benefit is included in your travel plans will cover those unexpected emergency transportation costs and leave you at ease knowing you’ll be covered.
  • Emergency medical evacuation and repatriation to the hospital of the member’s choice
  • Immediate travel arrangements for member, travel companion and family in the case of a edical emergency
  • Prescription replacement if lost or forgotten while traveling
  • Worldwide medical, dental, pharmacy and legal referrals
  • Assistance with emergency travel funds, cash advances and credit card replacement
  • Delayed baggage tracking
  • Language translation, embassy and consular relations, and lost document replacement assistance
  • Legal assistance, including bail bond
  • Return of deceased remains, in the unfortunate occurrence of death while traveling

For more information check out this site www.oncallinternational.com

Medical Travel Sites

Traveling by car

Check out www.SafeRoads.org a University of Minnesota interactive site that allows drivers to plot fatal crashes on a map and thus pick safe roads on which to drive. You can use this site to analyze where traffic deaths have occurred over the past several years.
Although the sites mentioned and linked to in this article have been researched, we make no guarantee as to their legitimacy. Any company should be thoroughly checked prior to using the services provided.