If your son's food allergies are such that they might be life threatening, I would suggest that you travel with an "epi pen" (epinephrine), although maybe you already do.

brenandg: Thanks for your thoughts. We do already carry Epi-Pens (plural) when we travel, but if anything did happen, I'd want a hospital nearby.

Other thoughts and advice are appreciated!
JS

hi j, i know nothing about the timeliness of getting to the hospital in your situation, but there is no hospital on provo. in an emergency you would be flown to the hosp on grand turk or miami ir nassau. st. john has no hospital either, and while there are 2 on st.thomas (roy shcneider hosp and st.thomas hospital) you'd have to get to st.thomas by boat.

My son has life threatening allergies as well so I can appreciate your position. I would be hesitant to go to T & C for that reason.

We go to St. Croix annually and they have a medical center on island. We had friends whose son got hit by a flying golf club and needed stitches in his forehead. When they returned to Long Island, their physician told them that who sewed him up did a phenomenal job.

Dependent on which island/islands you visit there may or may not be adequate emergency care nearby. The quality of care has nothing to do with the physicians and other personnel available but the actual facilities. A friend of mine from SVG once told me if something life threatening happens which requires extensive emergency care chances are limited.

Boy, this changes my thinking about some of these places--at least if we travel with the kids. I can't imagine being on an island with no hospital and having to deal with a severe reaction. In most cases, of course, nothing would probably happen, as we're always careful about what my son eats, and we usually bring along some of our own food from home. But you never know... I have a friend whose son had to be airlifted off Nantucket because of a severe allergic reaction, and I just wouldn't want to have to worry about that.

What islands besides St. Thomas do have good medical care? How far a boat ride is it from St. John to St. Thomas?

Again, any help is appreciated! We had such a good time on GC, so I've got the bug to go back to the Caribbean.

Aruba has a large hospital.

Puerto Rico

Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions. Keep 'em coming!

ccrosner: Thanks for your understanding! The allergy issue does make travelling harder. Good to hear that St. Croix has good medical care. I don't read that much on this forum about St. Croix--much more about STJ and STT. Do you have any recommendations for places to stay on St. Croix? We usually like to have a place with a kitchen, so we can cook. Are there any kid-friendly activities? My son, who is 8, really loved the snorkeling and sealife on GC. We're not really looking for a place with a kids program, just things we can do together as a family. My daughter is 4 and loves the water, so easy beach access and a pool are key. Thanks!

Grenada has a medical school--I assume there is also a hospital there? Perhaps others can help on that one.

My husband's family chose Aruba and St. Maarten in the 1980s when traveling with children for similar reasons. Not sure if their facilities are as good today as they were 20 years ago, but it's a starting point for your research.

Actually there is emergency medical care available on Provo - check the following websites:
www.doctor.tc/emg.html
http://www.tcimall.tc/medical/index.htm

Emergency care is available on your larger islands the problem lies in the resources for advanced life support. No airlift, helipads etc in most instances. For instance Bequia has hospital facilities but small. Kingstown Hospital on St. Vincent is able to do surgery etc but I wouldn't want to be involved in a major traffic accident, or require emergency renal dialysis. Most often all expenses must be paid upfront and few US insurances if any are excepted.

It is something to keep in mind when we decide to visit the islands and realize the risks involved. I have some problems with hypertension and the possibility of complications does exist none the less it is a chance I'm willing to take. If it was my child I might think a bit differently.

Might be worth doing a web search of what is available medically on the islands you are considering. Good luck.

Dr. Menzies is an awesome doctor in T&C. If you Email him now with your concerns, he will actually email you back and tell you realistically what to expect. http://www.doctor.tc/menzies.html

We've had to use him for an emergency or 2 (Ear problems) and on a Friday night at 11 pm was willing to make a house call!

Blamona is right. I would email him. Dr M. used to be my Dr when I lived in the T & C and I had to use him for an emergency (for myself) once and he was great!

i can understand your worry as well, we have an asthmatic and ended up in a sub-par hospital in nassau. As a nurse I was shocked at the lacking of quality of health care in the island. I basically had to tell them the medications to order for him ( he had never had an attack before, but got a infection possibly from the plane) We do go to caymans because of their quality health care. My father had been taken off a cruise ship and received excellent cardiac care by a cardiologist their. Also their was a thread about a man that got sick on St John with a food reaction and almost died trying to get trasferred to St Thomas (might want to search for it), but if I were you, I would pick Grand Cayman, Aruba or Hawaii,
Susan

Thanks again for all your thoughtful responses!

vinceygirl: I appreciate your cautions. If we did have a problem with my son's food allergies, it would probably be because he had a severe reaction and would need pretty advanced care. So not sure that just a doctor in a small clinic could help. It is tough when you're talking about a child. If it were my own health, I might not be as cautious.

blamona and MIM04: Thanks for the tip on Dr. Menzies on T&C. It's worth taking a look, though as I mentioned above, if we ended up needing medical care, a local doctor might not be able to help. I live outside of Boston in a suburb with an excellent community hospital, and a friend of mine's son still had to be airlifted to Mass. General last fall because the local docs couldn't get his allergic reaction under control. They were fortunate we live in an area with so many wonderful hospitals!

I know I sound a bit paranoid about all this, but when you know so many children who've had severe food reactions, as I have, it makes you sit up and take notice.

It does sound like there are some places we can go. We'll definitely keep Aruba, Grenada, and St. Maarten in mind and will check into St. Croix/St. Thomas as well. Of course, we loved GC this past April, so we could always go back there, too.
Thanks!
JS

Sorry, Susan--meant to thank you as well. Good to hear about your positive experience with healthcare on GC. Also, it's very helpful to get your perspective as a nurse. My son, the one who has the allergies, is also asthmatic, though not severely. But that's yet another concern. It's tough being a parent sometimes!!
Thanks!

Well this was an interesting read. I did not know that about T&C.
You do not sound paranoid at all. You're just being a mother, like it should be.
I wish I could suggest something but since our son is healthy, researching hospitals is not something I do for a trip.
Good luck!

JS - no I totally agree with you, being cautious is the key here. An allergy like that is nothing to mess with. I could contact Dr menzies and if you are not comfortable, then there are other places you can go. The USVI are not really known for their hospitals. There are Drs in St John, but the hospital in St Thomas, well I would not exactly want to depend on that in an emergency. There are some great Drs in the USVI, but the facility itself leaves a lot to be desired. I lived in St Thomas too, and I had a good Dr in red hook, but I would not set foot in that hospital.

GL and let us know where you decide.

I know its not as exotic, but have you considered the Keys or Sanibel / Captiva? Some beautiful beaches and hospitals would certinally be easier to get to, if needed.

Jamaica isn't known for having wonderful medical care, however, there is a relatively new (1997) hospital in Montego Bay, located on the grounds of the Half Moon resort, that might suit your needs:

http://www.mobayhope.org/

There is an ewmail address there so I assume you can get answers to specific questions about your son. Good luck.

(Half Moon is a lovely and very large resort, close by is also the Ritz Carlton and the Wyndham Rose Hall)

oh, I forgot to mention, T&C, (as well as other islands) are condo type units with full kitchens and small dining areas. IGA supermarket has all the american brand foods, etc, so you can totally control what your son eats!

jspen--
Sorry for the delay in responding--we were travelling

We stay at the Buccaneer in St. Croix and love it but it's not cheap and doesn't have kitchen facilities. People on this board and tripadvisor seem to like Gentle Winds condos on the North Shore of STX. I always think that the condos at Coakley Bay look very nice but you rent them directly from owners, I believe.

Also, I would think twice about Puerto Rico (though it doesn't sound like you were considering it and I really like the island). A classmate of my daughter's lost his father to pancreatitis after incredibly awful health care in Puerto Rico (they don't triage there--it's more like take a number and we'll get to you when it's your turn). It's a long horrible story with a terrible ending. Definitely gives you pause. Wish they had simply gotten on a plane and flew home to the States.

I appreciate all the suggestions! Thanks, everyone.

Caribtraveller: I imagine most people don't think about hospitals when travelling, but for us, it's one of those things to figure out before a trip: where to stay, where & what to eat, and where the closest hospital is. Such is life...

MIM04: Yes, we could consider staying Stateside, but I was just wowed by the Caribbean when we went to GC and wanted to see another island. But we may have to reconsider if the medical care really isn't reliable. I know Hawaii has good hospitals, and we have a family friend who's an ER doc there, so maybe we should consider that--though it's a LONG trip from Boston with two small kids!

liza: I'll also look into Jamaica--thanks for the tip on Half Moon Bay--though I thought that most places there are AI resorts, and we're not really looking for that.

If I can find out more about medical care in the USVI's, that may be one way to go. Thanks ccrosner for your condo suggestions on STX!

We're not going anywhere for awhile, so this isn't urgent. But it's good to know what our options are. So many islands sound wonderful, but I'd hate to find myself "up a creek without a paddle," so to speak.

There are a lot of AI resorts in Jamaica, but also a lot of non-AI resorts (out of 15 or so trips we've stayed AI only once) and small hotels, etc. Half Moon offers an AI plan but it is optional.

There are several hotels nearby that aren't AI, I guess your choices depend on how close to the hospital you'd want to be.

jspen,

I'm not sure that any of the smaller Caribbean islands can provide you with the emergency services you may require. Is this something you can discuss with your doctor? Perhaps he/she might have some pertinent advice for you. I'm not sure if you would need experienced personnel or sophisticated equipment.

And you could look into evacuation insurance.

I hope you find a successful resolution to all of the issues.

CW

jspen - I agree with CW, I would definitely discuss with your Dr at home. Honestly there are a lot of places I would be afraid to be with a kid with allergies of that nature. Hope you come up with something great!

I also have life threatening food allergies - seafood, shellfish, anchovy paste, etc and carry epi-pen - and yes, I have chosen destinations based on medical care available. Even if you use your epi, you often need immediate follow up care.

I always do several things:
Check out the listing of hospitals on the state.gov page under the consular sheets and see what they have to say.
If they list the hospitals individually, I google each hospital and see if I can track their medical assesment that way -
I also google "hospitals in suchandsuch" and research that a bit.

If I decide to go, I always have a letter with me, written in the native language/s of the area I am visiting that state my allergy and the concerns
(anaphylactic shock translates very well in most languages to "your guest could die") to give to the chef. They have always been most accomodating.

I also have a letter from my physician explaining his preferred treatment should I need it.

There is also a company you can register with that has a link up from all over the world that any hospital can plug into to get medical info you have supplied, which I ahve not done as an adult, but you might want to consider investigating for you child since there may be times in the future he will be traveling without you.

This being said, it hasn't stopped me from traveling all over the world to many wonderful destinations, but it has made me choose perhaps a different island, or a different city in a country if I do not feel I would be absolutely comfortable in what I could eat or not.

It has sometimes been that I choose to go and my diet varies to accomodate the travel.

It isn't just people with allergies who think about these things, my friend who dives also always makes sure there is some special chamber on the island he will be diving from in case of an accident to avoid the delay of having to be air lifted to a nearby island that indeed does have one.

You can also ask your physician and your local travel clinic. I know the travel clinic in our city has a special computer link up, and when my son was traveling to South Korea, the info they could access was incredible not only concerning the latest on immunization decisions but also on local hospital/clinic care and locations.

Perhaps if you are near a major city, one of your hosptials has such a travel clinic that could assist you.

oh, just scanned the thread again and see you are near Boston as I am - I have often used the travel clinic at Logan Airport, there are also travel clinics at several of our major hospitals in Boston, you may want to speak to your pediatrician about the best one for you,

Our pediatrician has sent my son several times to the one at Logan (for his South Korea trip and upcoming trip to India) - I have been very impressed with the time, care and thoughtfulness they gave deciding on what he needed, didn't need, and what emergency precautions he should take.

FOr the upcoming trip to India, I am investigating one of those online/24 hr fax/internet access medical history services just in case......

forgive me i should learn to read every single word, i see you have returned. if you read this again, still maybe some of my thoughts wsill help you for another trip

escargot: Thanks so much for your suggestions! We are still in the planning stages, so the info is still timely. We managed to go to GC in April without incident, but are now thinking about the next destination... For that trip, we brought quite a bit of food from home and then cooked in our condo while we were there, so had no problems.

I was not aware of the travel clinics you mention, so that's definitely something I should check out. I will also look into the info on the State Dept. website--that seems like a good resource as well. This would be a trip for next spring, so we have some time to plan. It's always good to hear what others with allergies do when travelling--most of our travels up until now have been within the US and Canada, so this is new for us.
Thanks!
JS