ASSISTANCE & REPATRIATION REVIEW 2018


GOING OFF-GR


From the Arctic and Canada’s ice fields to Micronesia and the red deserts of central Austra the capabilities of assistance companies. David Kernek gets to grips with assistance in rem


that travellers are seeing landscapes and seascapes of outstanding, unspoilt natural beauty, an attraction being that these remote locations must be seen before they are wrecked by tourism development, mining and/or climate change. Te downside for holidaymakers and business visitors is that emergency help when needed is many – very expensive – miles distant. Te travel trend that seemingly puts nowhere – even


T 32 | International Travel & Health Insurance Journal


he upside of increasingly popular getting-away-from-it-all vacations is


the proverbial middle of nowhere – off- the-grid has raised the bar for assistance providers.


UK-based assistance provider CEGA’s Chief Medical Officer Dr Lynn Gordon summarised the key challenges in remote location assistance: “A remote location is often synonymous with limited medical facilities, transport infrastructures and emergency services. But there can also be political unrest, adverse weather and logistical challenges, such as limited landing


space for aircraft.” Transferring an ill or injured patient from a remote location to an area with better medical or repatriation facilities can be complex, she said, potentially involving road, sea, air or rail transport, security support and a two- or three-stage evacuation, with medical escorts. “A patient might need to be stabilised in a local hospital with basic medical facilities, then moved to a better hospital and, from there, to fly back – when fit – to a hospital in


Assistance compa had to enhance th offerings Providers are bein respond in locatio test this traditio


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