Many readers might recall my article about staying in an emergency hospital in Naples, Italy, after a medical condition I had got worse while I was on a Holland America Line cruise in April 2016 (Sept. ’16, pg. 51).
Upon my return to Seattle, it was inspiring to receive emails from several ITN subscribers, including Joyce Perry, Judy Serie Nagy, Diane Robbins and Jane B. Holt, all of whom inquired about my health and wished me good luck.
I have occasionally wondered what would happen if my husband, Ed, or I should die while traveling in a foreign country. On a recent cruise, the unfortunate reality of this question hit us when two passengers died. Staff told us they would help each surviving spouse get in touch with the American Embassy, but they had no idea how much help the embassy would be.
Adding to the advice shared by subscribers in the May 2016 issue (page 39), I wanted to share what Ed and I have done to try to offset the difficulties of such an emergency situation while traveling.
My month-long trip to Greece, June 6-July 6, 2015, began with a short visit to Sparta, located in the southeast of the Peloponnese peninsula. The bus ride there from Athens took less than 3½ hours and cost less than $20 (in euros).
In western Pakistan, a suicide bomber struck a hospital in the city of Quetta on Aug. 8, killing 70 people and injuring more than 100.
Just before the bombing, more than 200 people had gathered outside the hospital for news about two prominent local lawyers who had been fatally shot earlier in the day. The lawyers had spoken out against killings by local militant groups. A Pakistani branch of the Taliban Islamist militant group claimed responsibility for the bombing.
I was shaking uncontrollably and curled up in the fetal position in the corner of my sofa when my friends found me in my stateroom.
“What happened to you?”
“I don’t know,” I replied.
They immediately called the ship’s onboard emergency number (911), ordered a wheelchair and took me to the doctor’s office six decks down and several long halls away. It was April 2016.
When the nurse asked me what the problem was, I could hardly answer her. “I feel just miserable,” I said.
I read about the traveler who, while on a hiking tour in New Zealand, came down with a respiratory illness, left the tour and took a bus back to Queenstown but did not seek a physician because it was Saturday afternoon (Feb. ’16, pg. 16). Instead, she stayed in a hotel for a few days, then took her scheduled flight home, where she submitted a trip-interruption claim to her travel insurance company. Her claim was denied because she had no note from a doctor attesting to the severity of her illness.
With an emphasis for women who are pregnant or who may become pregnant, the US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention have issued a travel warning about the prevalence of the zika virus in the following nations and territories: Cape Verde, Samoa, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Barbados, St. Martin, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname, Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay.
Heading to Dubrovnik, Croatia, on May 30, 2015, I was sitting in Premium Economy Class on a Lufthansa flight from New York to Frankfurt. Without having removed or even loosening my seat belt, I leaned forward in my seat to talk to my daughter, Dorie, who was sitting in front of me, and I bruised my liver!
I don’t think my seat belt was cinched too tight for just sitting, but I should have loosened or unfastened it before leaning forward.
The US Department of State advises against nonessential travel to Sierra Leone because both routine and emergency medical care are limited there. Some hospitals still have insufficient infection control, despite focused training and private clinics, and laboratories remain closed.
Air carriers chartered by insurance companies are unable to reliably provide medical evacuation services in Sierra Leone or the region, and local ambulance services for transport to the airport are generally unavailable.
