Tag: dos and donts

I never thought I’d find myself having to handle a medical emergency while traveling. Unfortunately, not all trips are without incident. On a trip to Belize, I experienced this first hand. A small fall turned into weeks in an orthopedic boot, physical therapy and, eventually, surgery. Although the situation was not ideal, I learned quickly about what to do before and during a trip for medical emergencies.

Dos and Don’ts of Travel Injuries

Story Time: How I fractured my ankle in Belize

If there’s one thing I know about myself, it’s that I’m accident prone. My trip to Belize was packed with adventure: zip lining, cave tubing, and snorkeling. We hopped from place to place, taking in all that we could. The day I broke my ankle, we were cave tubing. Is that how I broke it? Not exactly…

I made it through cave tubing mostly unscathed, even with it being our guide’s first day (yes, really!). We had a great time after with tropical drinks, and continued on the bus to our next hotel. With a roughly two hour trip ahead of us, that’s where things started to go wrong. Our bus, equipped with a bathroom, now had an inaccessible toilet due to a broken lock. As soon as we stopped, I tried running to the hotel lobby for a code 1 emergency…

Little did I know, the steps to the lobby were uneven and, unfortunately, solid concrete. I took quite a tumble, my stuffed backpack flinging itself over my head. Man, that hurt! I hobbled my way to the bathroom and back to the lobby, assuming it was just a bad sprain. After all, I’d rolled these ankles plenty of times in my basketball days. Boy, was I wrong. I spent the night in my room with my foot in a bucket of ice that had been graciously delivered by my tour director. Nevertheless, I persisted, seeing as Tikal National Park, our only day in Guatemala, was on the following day’s itinerary. Thus began the life lessons of what to do, and not to do, about travel-related injuries.

Preparing for possible medical emergencies while traveling

Do:

• Buy travel insurance.
  • Travel insurance can give peace of mind should plans change due to a medical emergency. Most plans help cover costs of re-booking accommodations, flights, and more.
• Check your personal medical coverage.
  • Depending on your destination, you may need to rely on your private insurance from your home country. Before you go, see if your plan covers medical care at your destination.
• Research how medical care works at your destination.
  • All destinations have their own medical care systems. Look into whether healthcare is public or private, and if insurance is required for treatment. For example, when I was hurt in Belize, I had the option of either public or private care. Locals may recommend one type of provider over another for factors such as quality and cost of care.

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Don’t:

• Assume your travel insurance covers all costs up front.
  • One of the main reasons I didn’t seek treatment when I found myself hurt was my travel insurance. Did I purchase travel insurance? Yes. However, the type of plan was one that required me to pay up front and submit for reimbursement. Worried about the added cost and process of being reimbursed, I opted to forgo treatment offered to me. This likely ended up costing me in the long run.
• Buy the cheapest insurance option.
  • Of course everyone wants to save where they can and have more to spend later. Unfortunately, the cheapest plans often have the most stipulations. They’ll cover the least and you’ll pay more out of pocket in an emergency. It’s important to thoroughly research what is covered by the plan you wish to buy.

I got hurt while traveling – what do I do now?

Do:

• Seek out professional care if needed.
  • You know your body best. If you feel something is wrong, seek professional help. It’s easy to want to skip treatment, but the most important thing is to take care of yourself! I really wish I’d taken up my director on his offer to accompany me to a doctor.
• Cancel or change plans, if needed.
  • If you’ve bought travel insurance, this is where that comes in. Even if you haven’t, it’s important to adjust your plans if needed. You don’t want to end up in a situation where your condition declines. It’s okay to take time to rest and recover.
• Notify medical providers back home.
  • Depending on your emergency, you could need follow-up care upon returning home. In my case, I knew that an ankle injury would mean, at minimum, physical therapy. I notified my medical provider via my family, which allowed me to be seen immediately upon return. If you aren’t able to call, most offices have a patient portal you can use to let your doctor know and schedule an appointment.
• Give yourself grace
  • Accidents happen! It’s instinct to beat yourself up mentally for an incident on vacation. I know it’s easier said than done, but make the most of it. Something I still laugh about is using my injury to have pizza delivered to me on the beach. I still took the pictures, albeit with a brace on.

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Don’t:

• Ignore your body to continue your trip as planned
  • One thing that I constantly question is whether I should have sought help instead of continuing on to Tikal. I opted to not only continue on to my next destination, but participated in physical activities. I wanted to visit the park, trek through the jungle, and climb a temple. While the park was incredible, it left me in a lot of pain. Since I hadn’t gotten evaluated, I didn’t know my ankle was actually fractured. In the end, continuing as planned made my condition worse and recovery longer.