What to Do If You Are Injured When Traveling

Isn’t it odd that you can go the entire year without getting sick or injured but the moment you are out of town on vacation, something always happens. Either you come down with a horrible head cold, or a bout of allergies, or you get a deep finger cut that may require stitches. You are in a new place, you don’t know where to go for medical attention and so you suffer your way through the rest of your vacation or make a trip to the local hospital ER. This year, go prepared. Here are few tips that will help you act quickly in an emergency no matter where you go.

Check Your Route and Destination in Advance

Instead of simply getting in the car and taking off for that trip to the beach like you have been dreaming of all year, take the time to plot out your route. Know exactly where you will be stopping for the night if it’s more than a day’s drive and check out cities along the way. When you do this, make a list of hospitals at distances no greater than 50 miles apart. Also, you could keep a list of urgent care providers along your route as well. Many times, these types of emergency facilities are faster than a trip to the ER. However, the most important place to know where the closest hospital is will be your final destination.

Know the Dangers You Could Encounter

You won’t always be exposed to the same kinds of ‘dangers’ so it helps to know what you will be doing on your trip. For example, if you are going to the beach, is there any chance you could get stung by a jellyfish? Perhaps you will be primitive camping and building fires by chopping and cutting your own logs. Always take a first aid kit when you leave for a trip and keep a cell phone charged in case you need to call for emergency assistance. It is especially important that you take along anything like EpiPens if you suffer from severe allergies to insect bites and always carry some kind of burn relief if you will be building fires.

Keep Your Insurance Information Handy

Most of the time we keep our insurance cards and identification in our wallets but isn’t it always the way that when you are away from home you can’t find what you are looking for? Before leaving your house, make absolutely certain you have all your proper ID and insurance cards handy in your wallet or on your person so that if you should be rendered unconscious, police or doctors will know who you are and will be able to access your electronic medical records by contacting your provider at home.

It pays to be prepared when you travel because that’s when Murphy’s Law always seems to strike. When you least expect to contract some cold or influenza, or get injured on a camping trip, is the time when those things will happen. Be prepared before you leave, and you’ll know just what to do in the event of an emergency.