The fear of falling ill on the road is one that most travelers silently have. We have met fellow travelers on several occasions that needed emergency healthcare during their travels.
While volunteering in the Philippines an American staff member was rushed to the hospital and underwent emergency surgery for internal bleeding. Asians don't have negative antigens in their blood, so she was forced to endure the surgery with no blood transfusions and ultimately only received half of the blood supply she needed when a fellow volunteer with her blood type donated blood the following day.
In Cambodia we encountered a guy experiencing all of the signs of Japanese Encephalitis. He was so confused and disoriented that he was calling his head his wrist. The hospital there was unsuccessful in drawing his blood for testing despite his sister helping the nurses, so he had to rush to Bangkok for care.
Our trip to the emergency room in South Africa was much less dramatic.
Yemi had developed a cyst on his scalp from a haircut he received in Nigeria. The fluid in the cyst had built up and became infected, so he needed to get it drained and take antibiotics. Eighteen percent of South Africans have HIV so visiting the hospital was scary as we had no knowledge of the conditions we would encounter.
We were pleasantly surprised. The man at our hostel personally escorted us to a private ER with high standards. Yemi got treated within 5 minutes! The doctors were professional and used superior caution in keeping all of the instruments sterile.
The whole procedure, which was completed in the ER trauma unit, only cost $185 USD, all of which will be reimbursed by our travel insurance (World Nomads). We were thrilled with both the service received at the hospital and with the follow-up calls and emails from our travel insurance representatives.
While we were strongly advised against public hospitals in South Africa, we can now say from experience that the private hospitals are nothing to fear!
While volunteering in the Philippines an American staff member was rushed to the hospital and underwent emergency surgery for internal bleeding. Asians don't have negative antigens in their blood, so she was forced to endure the surgery with no blood transfusions and ultimately only received half of the blood supply she needed when a fellow volunteer with her blood type donated blood the following day.
In Cambodia we encountered a guy experiencing all of the signs of Japanese Encephalitis. He was so confused and disoriented that he was calling his head his wrist. The hospital there was unsuccessful in drawing his blood for testing despite his sister helping the nurses, so he had to rush to Bangkok for care.
Our trip to the emergency room in South Africa was much less dramatic.
Yemi had developed a cyst on his scalp from a haircut he received in Nigeria. The fluid in the cyst had built up and became infected, so he needed to get it drained and take antibiotics. Eighteen percent of South Africans have HIV so visiting the hospital was scary as we had no knowledge of the conditions we would encounter.
We were pleasantly surprised. The man at our hostel personally escorted us to a private ER with high standards. Yemi got treated within 5 minutes! The doctors were professional and used superior caution in keeping all of the instruments sterile.
The whole procedure, which was completed in the ER trauma unit, only cost $185 USD, all of which will be reimbursed by our travel insurance (World Nomads). We were thrilled with both the service received at the hospital and with the follow-up calls and emails from our travel insurance representatives.
While we were strongly advised against public hospitals in South Africa, we can now say from experience that the private hospitals are nothing to fear!
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