Travel Health Emergencies: How to Be Prepared - 2
Travel Health Emergencies: How to Be Prepared
Handle health issues on the road with composure—plan ahead, consider urgent-care facilities and know that help can be just a phone call away.
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Handling Health Insurance
Ah, yes, the dreaded health insurance question. Our little band of four is currently covered under the health plan for graduate students at the Huge Midwestern University where my husband is a doctoral fellow … and I used the word “covered” very loosely.
We didn’t bother to call—we knew the bill would be outrageous no matter what—but Campbell is right. If you have coverage, it’s easier to get the go-ahead beforehand than to deal with insurance claims from an out-of-state hospital.
We’ve done that, too, back when I was a corporate fat cat and my husband fell ill—in Ohio.
Hmmm. Ohio, again. I’m sensing a pattern here.
Speaking of the grown-ups, parents can get sick, too. I know, hard to believe we aren’t made of Teflon, isn’t it? Trust me—spend an hour with my kid, and you’ll be hacking up a lung before you can say “over-the-counter cough medicine.”
Campbell has some advice for the big people, too. If you or your adult traveling-partner experience any of the following, get thee to a doctor (er, a phone, so you can ask permission from your doctor):
- Chest pain, especially if associated with nausea, sweating or shortness of breath.
- Sudden onset of shortness of breath.
- Severe allergic reactions.
- Severe abdominal pain.
“It is generally much easier to assess the severity of an illness or injury in an adult,” Campbell adds.
Take it from me—I’m the queen of bad vacation karma. I think my next trip will be to buy a giant bubble for us to live in.
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Comments
1 Comments on this article | read all commentsKnow the closest ER
by Catherine on September 12, 2008
Great advice here. My daughter recently got appendicitis while we were away from home. I called our own doc, who advised us to go to the ER. Thankfully, the apartment we'd rented came with a helpful binder of info that included the names of two local ERs. Since it was 4 a.m. at the time, I was really glad to have that info readily available.