Building a temporary intensive care ward in a hotel room in Haiti may not be listed as a requirement for the job of a senior medical consultant for a travel insurance company. But that's exactly what happened in a case Dr. Eugene Delaune oversaw for Allianz Travel.
Delaune, SentinelMED's medical director, shared this story in the Humans of Travel podcast from TravelAge West. Delaune consulted with a SentinelMED team member in Haiti to stabilize the traveler, who went into cardiac arrest on a cruise ship. The traveler was cared for in a hotel room until he could be transported to Miami.
"Traveler's insurance literally saved this guy's life," Delaune said. "Just to coordinate and arrange something like that would be impossible if you don't know the ropes and the landscape of the local resources."
He told host Emma Weissmann that many people think insurance companies make decisions based on cost only. He said that as an Allianz Travel consultant, he is free to use his experience to make decisions based on sound medical reasons and what’s good for the patient.
“Trust us to do what’s right for the patient who is sick or injured,” he told Weissmann. “I am under zero pressure to do anything for cost.”
Sometimes, the best care for the patient is close by, he explained. However, patients and their families often want to be transported quickly to their home country. This is especially true for Americans, he said. However, putting the patient on an air ambulance headed back to the United States may not be what’s best for them medically. Delaune said It’s his job to advise Allianz Travel if a patient is stable and ready for long-distance travel.
"You may be fine now, but I know that four hours from now, you may not be fine," he said in the podcast.
Delaune also talked to Weissmann about his lifelong interests in science and travel and how they led him to his work with SentinelMED and Allianz Travel.
To listen to the full podcast, click here.
As medical director for SentinelMED, Delaune is actively involved in the planning and execution of the aeromedical transportation of hundreds of patients each year. He is a traveling emergency room physician and works about 100 hours a month in hospitals across the United States.
Delaune has medical licenses in 13 states, was trained by NASA as a landing-site physician, and was trained and certified by the U.S. Air Force as a critical care aeromedical transport team (CATT) physician. He is a regular media contributor and has been interviewed by or written articles for Forbes, The Washington Post, USA Today, Travel Weekly, and Johnny Jet.
About SentinelMED
SentinelMED provides medical transportation, medical repatriation, and medical escort services to individuals who require medical assistance to travel long distances safely and comfortably.
The team is experienced in working with commercial airlines to transport patients who have been injured or become ill while traveling. In many cases, patients are accompanied by one or more medical escorts who can provide care during travel. This is a cost-effective alternative to transport by air ambulance.
The SentinelMED team understands the complexity of delivering exceptional care to patients who need assistance during travel. Please contact us to learn more about the services that SentinelMED offers or its staff.
