- contact the nearest Canadian consulate/embassy
- contact your travel insurance company’s toll free #
- IAMAT ( International Association for Medical Assistance to Travellers ) are best known for providing a directory of English-speaking physicians in more than 12- foreign countries. These doctors meet IAMAT Standards for medical care and follow a fixed fee schedule.
- ISTM ( the International Society of Travel Medicine ) lists travel clinics around the world on their web site – useful for travelers to access while abroad.
References:
“Traveller’s assistance”, Travel Wise Immunize newsletter 2001, Pasteur Merieux Connaught.
The safety of blood and blood products depends on careful selection of donors, testing all donations for transfusion-transmissible infectious agents and rigorous control of all procedures involved in donation, testing and transfusion. In turn, the safety of transfusion depends on appropriate prescription, careful checking of compatibility of the blood or blood product with the recipient’s blood, and rigorous control of all procedures involved. In many developing countries, health care facilities lack safe blood products and safe transfusion protocols. In fact, the most common risks associated with unsafe blood transfusion are:
- incompatibility of transfused blood owing to failure to carry out careful compatibility testing
- transfusion of infectious agents that cause diseases such as HIV, malaria, hepatitis B/C, syphilis, Chagas’ disease
For travelers, the need for a blood transfusion is almost always due to a medical emergency involving sudden massive blood loss, such as:
- traffic accident
- obstetrical/gynecological emergencies
- severe GI hemorrhage
- emergency surgery
- a medical card should be carried by all travelers, stating their blood group and medical history
- those with pre-existing conditions that may give rise to a need for blood transfusion should avoid unnecessary travel
- take all possible precautions to avoid being in a traffic accident
o do not use a moped, motorcycle or bicycle
o do not drive on unfamiliar and unlit roads
o do not drive after drinking alcohol
o drive within the speed limit at all times
o be careful in a country where the traffic drives on the opposite side of the road to that you are used to
o know the informal rules of the road
o before renting a vehicle, check the parts over as best you can
o obtain info on the regulations governing traffic and vehicle maintenance, on the state of the roads
- in advance of travel, finding contact address + phone # of physician / hospital at the travel destination ( even more important in those travelers with medical conditions like hemophilia, who may need blood transfusion OR those who need transfusion of plasma derived products should make appropriate arrangements in advance of travel)
References:
International Travel and Health, Chapters 4 & 8, WHO.
Dr. Helen Eng
e-mail: vicmak97@telus.net
fax: 604 – 946 - 0013