Swimming with whales in warm Pacific waters sounds crazy — except to those few of us who love the water dangers of snorkeling and scuba diving. Anytime I venture near my favorite diving places, I always keep on board a copy of my medical evacuation travel insurance.  

The goal of medical evacuation is to save a patient’s life and to limit the extent of an injury. If my condition is stable and not at risk from flying, insurance companies will fly me to the nearest adequate medical facility. For example, if I were diving in Indonesia they would fly me to Singapore, if in Fiji, to New Zealand. Once stabilized, if needed, they will fly me home. No insurance company is large enough to have their own fleet of planes available in every country. Instead, they sub-contract planes with medical evacuation companies worldwide. 

Regardless of where you are in the world, you will have 24/7 access to a special emergency division within the insurance company.  You simply call their collect-call number. One company GNI works with has 10 nurses and 1 Medical Officer (doctor) in their medical evacuation division. 

Depending on the geographical location of the patient, medical evacuation can happen quickly, often within 2 to 3 hours. Here is the general procedure: 

1. The insurance company is contacted concerning a needed medical evacuation.
2. The Medical Evacuation Division in the company makes a quick and complete evaluation of the illness or injury. This is generally done in consultation with a physician that works with the insurance company and medical personnel that are on the ground stabilizing the patient.
3. Evaluation of the physical/geographic location of the patient, e.g., nearest airport and nearest adequate medical facilities, is considered.
4. The patient is evacuated to the nearest adequate medical facility, and if necessary, once stabilized, evacuated back to his or her home country.
5. If the medical condition is not overly serious, they will use a common carrier for the evacuation, often sending along medical personnel to assist the patient in flight. If very serious, they will charter a plane from a medical evacuation company in the region.

Two other side benefits of medical evacuation bring much needed comfort to the family in an emergency. One, if you have any children with you, they will be flown back home.  Two, the insurance company will pay for a family member to be with you. 

So next time you plan to swim with the big guys, give us a call and we’ll hook you up with the right medical evacuation policy. 

Doug Gulleson loves to scuba dive overseas and he makes sure he always takes his Amex card AND international travel insurance policy.  Visit Good Neighbor Insurance at  www.gninsurance.com  for your next overseas trip and get a FREE quote.