If you are traveling outside the United States, you may need more than a valid passport to be prepared for a successful experience. Depending on your destination, you may need to receive one or more vaccinations before you travel, or to begin taking prescription medicines that you’ll continue throughout your trip. You also may be prescribed medicines that you’ll want to fill in the United States in case you become ill while away from home.
Most large cities have at least one dedicated travel clinic. In many towns and small cities, pre-travel medical services are provided by local health departments. In addition, your primary care doctor may be able to research and provide a list of vaccines and medicines you’ll need before traveling and secure them for you.
Regardless if you are working with a specialized travel health clinic or a general health care provider, you’ll want to make your first appointment for a consultation between four and six weeks before you travel. You want to leave enough time for your medical provider to procure the vaccines, if necessary, and to allow the vaccines to take effect.
You can find a list of vaccines, organized by country, that are recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before traveling at http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/list. The CDC’s website also lists two organizations that provide directories of travel medicine clinics: the International Society of Travel Medicine (ISTM) and the American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene.
Travel medical clinics also can tell you whether vaccination for yellow fever is recommended for the area or areas of the world to which you are traveling. These vaccines are only available from authorized yellow fever vaccine centers. Many of these centers also offer pre-travel health services.
Yellow fever occurs in sub-Saharan Africa; some countries in South America; Panama; and Trinidad and Tobago. Several African nations require travelers to show proof that they have been vaccinated against yellow fever before they are allowed to enter the country.
Identifying Affordable Air Medical Transport Services
Getting your vaccinations and filling any recommended prescriptions before you travel are two precautions that can help you stay healthy when traveling outside the United States. Another preparation to make before traveling is to consider what you would do in a worst-case scenario – an unexpected illness or accident that requires medical transport back to your hometown or a receiving medical facility.
To be prepared and put your mind at ease, set aside 30 minutes before your day of departure to research affordable air medical transport services, such as SentinelMED. Write down important contact information and put it with any prescription or over-the-counter medicine you are packing, or tuck it inside a basic first-aid kit that you plan to take with you. Also save the contact information for SentinelMED in your phone and share it with family members. That way they will know which air medical transport service should be contacted in the event of a medical emergency.
As an affordable air medical transport service, SentinelMED helps sick or elderly patients navigate the complexities of long-distance travel. This includes speaking to the treating and receiving facility staff, obtaining medical clearances, arranging air and ground travel, and acquiring travel oxygen and necessary medications and equipment
SentinelMED’s team of qualified logistics and medical professionals works with patients, their family members, and medical facilities to determine the service and level of care that are most appropriate for a patient’s medical condition, destination, and language or cultural needs.
In some cases, patients may need a professional and trained medical escort to travel with them throughout the journey, and ensure that the receiving health care facility or family member is able to assume their care. For patients who do not have a family member or friend to travel with them, a medical escort can make it possible to receive care at the hospital or medical center of their choice.
The SentinelMED team understands the complexity of delivering exceptional care to patients who need assistance during travel, whether for an existing medical condition or in the event of an injury or accident while away from home. Please contact us to learn more about the services that SentinelMED offers or its staff.
