Dealing with emergencies

Sooner or later, some travelers will encounter an emergency while abroad. Dealing with a serious injury, illness, an assault, or even just running out of funds is never a pleasant situation. However, a little preparation beforehand can help you better prepare and cope with the situations life throws at you.

Preparation

European Health Insurance Card

• Health insurance Carry your medical insurance card with you, if you have one. Inquire about what coverage you have internationally: most likely you will need to take out travel insurance. In some countries, medical costs are very low. However, many overseas hospitals will insist on having payment for services before providing (or continuing) medical care. Having your insurance policy details may show the hospital that you have sufficient resources to pay for the medical care, even if you have no money on hand. In the European Union, European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland, citizens of any EU/EEA country are treated like locals in any emergency, which often means cheap or free medical treatment, given they carry the European Health Insurance Card (available for free in most of these countries).
• Medevac insurance Medevac means "Medical Evacuation". This is the process of chartering a special jet with medical personnel to bring you back from wherever you are to the nearest country with decent medical care or your home country, where medical care may be better and where your friends and family can be near. The price of this can be extremely high if you're crossing oceans: US$500,000 is not uncommon, and many insurers recommend having coverage of up to US$1,000,000. Medevac coverage or a separate Medevac policy is a good idea, particularly if you are going to spend a long time abroad.
• Communications Ensure you have some form of communication available to you where ever you are. Understand your mobile phone's limitations. For some destinations, consider having satellite based communication of some sort.
• Important phone numbers There is no substitute for knowing the emergency phone numbers of the country you're in. Carry in your wallet the local phone numbers for emergency services, such as ambulance or police. On GSM phones, the number 112 is guaranteed to connect to emergency services, no matter what country you're in. In a pinch, you can also try 911, which many countries forward to the local number. Travel insurers often have a 24 hour reverse charges helpline. Also carry the phone number of your country's embassy and your credit and ATM card issuer (they may even have a reverse charges number) so that you can report a card stolen or find out why it isn't working.
• Leave copies of your plans with someone at home. They should have your itinerary, copies of your identity documents and details of your insurance policies. You should give them an idea of how often to expect contact. This will help them find you and/or get you consular and medical assistance if you can't get it yourself.
• Carry money wisely and in multiple forms Carrying all your money in one wallet can wreak havoc on your trip if the wallet is lost or stolen. Spread out your money, both on your person and in your bags. Furthermore, try to have multiple financial resources available. For example, a budget traveller might take a supply of cash for most ordinary purchases, keep an ATM or debit card for cash withdrawals, and carry a credit card or two for emergencies or to buy airline tickets. Each of these (cash, credit cards, ATM card) can themselves be a separate means of getting money. Keep them in safe places, but split between your bags and your person.
• Know the lingo Be able to say, "I need help, Please call police" in the local language (or carry a card with the words in local script).
• Know yourself, know your locale Emergency response standards and medical care vary enormously around the world. Be realistic on what you can handle. In dangerous countries, such as war zones or places where tropical diseases, earthquakes or severe weather events occur, prepare and behave accordingly, know where it is safe to get help.
• Alerts In many countries there are systems to alert people of severe events, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcano eruptions, tornadoes or severe weather in general. This may work by an automatic SMS message to everybody near the hazard or one to those who have registered, alarms at normal broadcast radio channels, sirens or whatever. Check. In many countries, warnings are included in normal weather forecasts, and the event may be noted in the news. In North America a small portable weather radio can alert you to bad local weather conditions.
• Know the local laws In any country you travel to, you are responsible for knowing and respecting the local laws, and ignorance is rarely if ever accepted as an excuse for breaking the law. Unless you are entitled to diplomatic immunity, if you are arrested for breaking a country's laws, you will have to go through the local judicial process, and will in general be punished according the local laws, even if the penalties are much harsher than what you would suffer if convicted of the same crime back home.

Medical emergencies

• In the event of a sudden injury or assault, try to summon help from any way you can. If you are able to, call the emergency services number on your own. In the event of a trauma injury, get to any clinic or hospital ASAP. You can always transfer hospitals later once your condition has stabilised.
• If your condition is stable and you have some time, make a wise choice as to which hospital to go to. Call your country's embassy or consulate and inquire about which hospital the embassy recommends or its staff use. Even third world countries with poor health care often have a handful of hospitals that are up to international standards. Find out where they are. Your insurer may also be able to make a recommendation.
• Notify your family as soon as possible.

Natural disasters

See also: Severe weather, Earthquakes

• A foreign environment often means risks you've never experienced before. The Stay safe sections in our country articles usually mention what kinds of dangers you can expect there.
• For weather phenomena, check what time of the year is the best time to visit and follow the weather reports. Things like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions can happen surprisingly, but usually the authorities know when there is a severe risk (the worst surprises happen when there has been "any time now" for decades).
• If you find yourself in a situation where you don't have a clue how to act, chances are you'll do something unwise. Learn beforehand what to do if disaster strikes, and prepare accordingly.
• Many countries have alert systems for severe natural disasters, be aware of how you get the alerts and what they are like (both on radio and smart devices) and what responses are required of you.

Assaults and robberies

See also: Stay safe

Report the crime to the police, even if you don't think they will do anything, as you will need the police report for any insurance claims. In third world countries where you are unsure of the reliability of local police, report the situation first to your embassy or consulate, which may be able to assist you to notify the police and assist if you need help notifying your family.

In an extreme emergency, most countries have services such as a battered women's shelter, homeless shelters, and the like. Using such services is not ordinarily recommended (as they are geared towards local residents) but if your only other option is to sleep on the streets, make inquiries as they are better than nothing.

Travelers Aid

In the United States, Canada and Australia, the Travelers Aid organization lends a helping hand to travelers in need of any type of assistance. Staffed by volunteers in counters at many airports, they can answer routine queries (such as what is the cheapest way to get from the airport to downtown) but can also provide referrals to other social service organizations or emergency services in serious crises such as destitution, homelessness, or human trafficking.

What your embassy can do

See also: Diplomatic missions

The quick answer is much less than you'd expect—in particular, they will never pay a single cent of any costs caused by the emergency—but their assistance can still be valuable. These services can also be provided by consulates and associated countries (e.g., Commonwealth embassies for Commonwealth citizens, EU embassies for EU citizens).

• If you lose your passport, your embassy can make a new one for you, often very quickly. You'll usually need a police report, and a copy of the lost passport will be very helpful. Fees will apply. Sometimes the fast-turnaround passports are temporary and may need to be converted to a regular passport once you are back home, with varying degrees of headache.
  • If you have already reported a passport as stolen/missing and you find it afterwards, do not attempt to use it. Stolen/missing passports are entered in Interpol's database to prevent misuse, and anyone attempting to enter a country using one will throw up huge red flags.
• If you're the victim of a crime, your embassy can put you in touch with lawyers, translators and the police. They will not pay any expenses.
• If you lose all your money, your embassy may, in extreme cases, arrange transportation back home. This is a last resort (they'll try to contact friends or relatives and have them wire money first) and you'll have to pay the costs with interest when you get back.
• If you're arrested, you have a right to consular assistance. This means that the embassy can provide you with a list of lawyers and translators, and contact your family. The embassy cannot pay fines or legal costs, get you out of jail, interfere in the judicial process of the host country or try to exempt you from local laws.
• If you're hospitalized, the embassy can notify insurers or relatives. They cannot pay the bills on your behalf.
• If you die, the embassy will confirm your identity, contact next of kin and collect paperwork. They cannot pay for expenses such as funerals or transporting the body.
• In the event of an unexpected sudden outbreak of war or very serious civil disorder, your embassy may organise evacuation flights for you and other fellow citizens, as well as others they may have responsibility for. Whether or not this happens is up to the discretion of your country's government, but at the very least, they can assist in keeping your family up to date about your situation, and provide you with some assistance in making emergency travel arrangements should you want to head home.

Embassies usually cannot assist you in legal matters if you hold citizenship of the country you are in even if you are a citizen of the embassy's country too.

Emergency money

See also: Money

Assuming someone is willing to send you money, there are several ways you can get money in a pinch.

• Direct Deposit Someone deposits or wire transfers money to your bank account. You then use your ATM card to withdraw. This is the lowest cost method to get money–assuming you have someone willing to deposit money to you and you yourself have access to the account!
• Western Union Not the cheapest way to send money, but enormously popular because of its convenience and the fact that Western Union has offices in so many cities worldwide.
• Credit card cash advance Credit cards can be used to obtain cash either via an ATM (if you have been issued a PIN) or in person at a participating bank branch. (In many countries, it is increasingly becoming ATM only.) Before attempting this, it is strongly recommended that you contact your credit card company to ask about fees and participating banks at your destination. Many credit card companies charge 3% of the amount of the advance with interest accruing from that date.
• Fedex and other overnight courier companies frown upon the sending of cash in their envelopes. But because delivery is so reliable, many people choose to send modest amounts of money in overnight envelopes. Delivery time is generally one to five days, depending upon your location. Doing this is illegal in some countries.
• OCS Trust Account This is the official name for the service by which an American citizen can receive money sent from a friend or relative via a US Embassy. The fee for an OCS Trust account is US$30, in addition to fees for wire transfer. The method allows the sender to specify exactly how the money is to be used: if the sender specifies that the funds are for a plane ticket home, for example, that is exactly what will be bought and nothing else. Due to the fees and complications, OCS trust accounts are generally used only in extreme emergencies such as when the recipient cannot go to a bank or Western Union office.