If you’re currently in the midst of a dream vacation, but you’ve had to suddenly stop and put the brakes on the fun because of a recent accident or injury, don’t panic! The vacation isn’t over, and you won’t have to fly home straight away. You just need to get your head on straight, assess the situation, and make sure you follow the tips below to ensure the rest of your time away doesn’t end up down the drain. After all, taking a vacation and getting injured is a lot like going traveling with an injury; you just need to take it slow, do your best to minimize the damage, and make sure you still have a lot of fun as you go!
Seek Out Medical Care
The first thing to do, when injured while you’re on vacation, is to seek out medical treatment where you are. No matter where you’ve gone, there’s always going to be a hospital or doctor nearby, and there’s a very good chance they also speak the same language as you – many foreign hospitals assure this skill in many of their staff members when it comes to popular tourist hotspots. Either that, or they’ll have an interpreter, so don’t worry about a potential language barrier!
It’s also best to have your health insurance papers on you when you visit a hospital or local surgery, and try to ensure you’ve got your passport and any other documentation on you as well. Of course, in a total emergency an ambulance will be called, so there’s not much you can do there, but you can always ask a travel partner to fetch them for you.
It can be scary to be sitting in a ward bed in a hospital you don’t know, in a country that’s not your own, but this visit won’t last forever – keep that in mind at all times! You’ll be out again in no time, and no matter where you are on the planet, the doctors know what they’re doing.
Put Your Insurance to Good Use
It’s always a good idea to take out travel insurance before going away, and if you did purchase a policy before getting on the airplane, smart move! Now that you’ve actually ended up in hospital, your policy can cover any of the expenses you face during treatment, and you won’t have to end up using your souvenir money to cover those bandages and x-rays!
Travel insurance, if you booked the right policy, will also cover the cost of an emergency flight home, if it’s required that you leave the country to seek out medical care in your own hometown or state. You won’t have to fork out thousands for the next flight out, no matter how long the trip itself is going to take, and that can be a real weight off your shoulders right now.
So all in all, double-check if you have insurance, and what it covers. And make sure that the next time you go away, you’ve got insurance that helps to pay for medical expenses, emergency return trips, and any accidents you’re either part of or may have had a hand in causing.
Book an Appointment for When You Get Home
As soon as you get back home again, you’re going to want to follow up with your own doctor. You need to be sure your injury or illness has been taken care of, and working with a doctor you both know and trust is the best way to assure yourself that there’s no long-term damage on the cards.
If you can book both a normal or emergency appointment here, depending on the severity of the accident or issue you were involved in, and get peace of mind for whatever problem you’ve had to fly home with. Indeed, your doctor can then refer you to other services, such as a physical therapy treatment if you’ve broken an ankle or leg while you’ve been away, or to a specialist who knows just how to deal with serious cases of food poisoning or heat stroke aftercare.
As long as you’re working with a doctor back home, who you have easy access to and can rely on, your vacation injury isn’t going to stop you from going back on vacation again one day! Just make sure you don’t leave your medical issue to get better on its own – who knows how long that’s going to take?
Make Others Aware
And finally, when you’ve gotten into an accident that’s left you injured, either at your hotel or the resort you’re staying at, make sure you tell plenty of people what’s happened. Let the manager know about the potential danger that someone else could fall prey to, and make sure they know that you have become injured or indisposed due to negligence on their part.
After all, you could have a potential compensation claim here, and now’s the perfect time for you to collect the evidence necessary to pursue it. In the meantime, focus on how you can help prevent such accidents from occurring again, and take photos of the area where it happened for your own records. Make sure you’re aware that you did everything you could to avoid the accident happening.
In this same vein, be sure to talk to other guests about what happened. See if anyone staying at the same residence saw your accident occur, and ask them to write anything down that could help to corroborate your story. And once you’re out of the hospital, make sure you get a receipt of the treatment you had to undergo, to prove that your own finances are tied up in this situation.
If you’re involved in an accident while you’re on vacation, don’t let the situation spoil your time away as a whole. Do as much as you can to settle the dust while there, and make sure you have leads to follow up on when you get home again.
