I just came back from Turkey where after a few cocktails I managed to trip and crack my cranium open pretty good. After waiting 1 1/2 hours in an Istanbul emergency room I was taken to a room that didn't need any of my blood since it was already full of someone elses. I managed to stutter my concern well enough to get another room where the doctor proceeded to put in stiches without the aid of any anesthetic. Anyway, I'm wiser now with a nice two inch scar as a reminder. Next time I'm out drinking in a foreign country I will wear a helmet. <BR> <BR>Anyone else have any fun experiences with medical care while traveling?

Only been overseas twice but I've had the pleasure of visiting emergency rooms in both Paris and Edinburgh, I don't know how I manage it. The first was in Paris when my friend twisted her ankle trying to catch the last bateau-mouche of the night (red wine may have been involved). Similar experience as Steve, she noticed dried blood on the examining table as the MD taped her leg very tightly from knee to toes. It was a blessing in disguise, we stayed longer in Paris and got to jump every museum line b/c she had to use forearm crutches (something you don't see used much in the US btw). <BR> <BR>The second: I had only been in Edinburgh an hour or so when an old heart condition came back... my first view of the castle was from the back seat of the taxi on the way to the Royal Infirmary. (When they gave me a gown and told me to get undressed I wondered if I should take off the money belt that had been a constant companion for weeks...) I received excellent care and was on my way after only a few hours. The worst bit was lying there topless for what felt like hours as the blushing young male ECG tech placed all those electrodes...

Ewww... <BR>Never saw the blood thing, but... <BR>I moved to Lisbon (with my cat) and got food poisoning from Tap Air Portugal/Delta!!! Like an idiot, I ordered a special seafood meal, ate a wierd-tasting shrimp salad and (was so deathly ill I never thought about contacting the airline!) <BR>After 2 days in an indian hostel, in a bathroom that reeked sewage fumes, I wished myself dead!!! <BR>Ended up at a Portuguese hospital (with a portuguese friend's help!) They gave me an IV and I never had to pay a thing... <BR>Another time, I went to a hospital for assistance on a non-emergency call, and it took 10 hours in the waiting room...(they forgot the only blond in the room hadn't been waited on...) <BR> <BR>oh well...makes you a better person... <BR> <BR>lol

Hiya <BR> <BR>So , just curious, but what do you use in US when you break a leg? <BR> <BR>Kavey

For some reason axillary crutches are much more common for that type of injury. I've seen forearm crutches used more for people who need them long-term (cerebral palsy, some amputees, paraplegics, etc). Axillary crutches are easy to use incorrectly and can result in nerve damage so I don't see why forearm crutches aren't used more widely.

Full length crutches are more common in the U.S. These have handles that one grips and the crutch extends to just below the armpits. This is different then the forearm crutches that have a ring around the forearm area and do not extend above the forearm.

Oh <BR> <BR>I see <BR> <BR>Well I have been given both at different times here in the UK. <BR> <BR>When I broke my foot at school I had the ones with rings round the upper arms and handles at hand height (where else!) <BR> <BR>Other times I have been given the ones under the armpits... find those much much harder to walk with though. <BR> <BR>Thanks for the update, i forget how different even minor things like this can be across the world...

When I lived in the UK, I got to experience their medical care. On one hand, it's great because it's free, but on the other hand, I'd rather pay. I waited for 3 hours in the emergency room in Birmingham to get an allergy shot (I called a GP and they told me to go to the emergency room)--not because there was a big line ahead of me, but so they could round up a ream up papers for me to sign, apparently to make sure the American didn't sue! <BR> <BR>Then I went to the dentist in Belfast. Apparently, dentists there aren't really into those crazy old things like root canals. Instead of trying to save my tooth, he just pulled it out. <BR> <BR>I also had to spend a few days in the hospital in London. I was in a ward with about 10 other women, which was weird to begin with. I also had to misfortune to be in the hospital when the new class of medical school graduates (remember, they only go to school for 5 years in the UK to become doctors, unlike the 8 in the U.S.) came out, so I got to be treated by 22-23 year olds who had absolutely no idea what they were doing, and were not supervised by a more senior doctors. <BR> <BR>The nurses were good, although I never did figure out who was supposed to be called "sister" and why. And why do they have to wear those nasty ugly dresses? <BR> <BR>Finally, I tore my ACL while playing soccer in England. I was putting on a waiting list and told it would take at least a year before I would be operated on. This is when I moved back to the States, and paid for the surgery myself here. I'm thankful I did. I had friends that I played football with in England that can barely walk now because they were unable to get knee surgery in a timely manner.

This thread is cracking me up! I went to a dental hygienist in Munich to have my teeth cleaned and felt like I was a participant in her S&M fantasy. My gums were torn up and bleeding when she got done and took days to heal. My dentist seems pretty good so I figured she'd be good, too. Yikes! The only other scary encounter was when they took blood for my residence permit (or something). Another yikes! She crammed the needle in and moved it around and scared the daylights out of me! I've never had a problem with needles before but I fainted after that! Everyone I've talked to had a borrible experience when they had to give blood. Maybe they're trying to scare us away! To be fair I should say that my regular doctor seems very competent.

Annie - <BR>you COULD have paid for your treatment - we do have private health care as well

I had an asthma attack one evening in London and was having difficulty breathing. My mother and I went to a hospital (this was years ago, can't remember where it was). Very short wait, then taken to a large room in the back where many patients were being treated. Facilities looked older and more outdated than I expected, but care was first-rate. They put me on a breathing machine and I was fixed up in short order and given a prescription for an inhaler. Best part was when they told me I could go and we asked where to pay and they laughed. We were astonished and walked out into the street and my mother said, "Wow, that's the way it should be everyplace."

Our dentist tells the story of a patient who was going to England and while there, a reoccurring tooth problem developed. Our dentist had been unable to find the problem, but in England someone sent him round the corner to "MR. so and so" and was given some kind of treatment that never gave him any kind of problem again. He still doesn't know if it was a real dentist or a technician of some kind. Also, don't forget British medical care is not "free", they pay plenty high taxes which also supports loads of foreigners coming into the country and receiving health care.

But it sure makes a nicer impression, Karen, than what people get here in BC, Canada. While I was waiting and waiting in emergency one night, a foreign visitor waited for 4 or 5 hours in excruciating pain until her friend finally decided to take her to a clinic instead which would soon be opening for the day. They were not refunded their $150 or whatever they had to pay. The receptionist curtly told them that, as far as the hospital was concerned, they had 'visited emergency'. <BR> <BR>Compare that to when my Mother broke her arm in England. She was fixed up and out of the clinic in no time and not charged a cent. <BR> <BR>When I was in east Africa I became very sick. We were on the move and nowhere near a hospital. A veterinarian happened to be present and he gave me a pill which he said would work equally well with humans. I don't remember what it was now but it's funny how, in different circumstances, you can find yourself doing things that you never dreamed you would.

In college in the late seventies I took a month long trip to the (then, STILL) Soviet Union. During a visit to Babyar(sp), a cemetary in Leningrad now again St. Petersburg, my Russian professor stepped on a sparkler wire left over from a WW2 commemoration celebration. He was taken to a local hospital while we waited. The hopital was located in an area that Intourist would rarely let people see- lots of burned out areas still not razed from the war. He said that if you could imagine the worst interstate bathroom you'd ever been in, that would equate to the level of sanitation. They gave him a tetanus shot, but told him he would have to return several times during the next months for boosters- no modern day tetanus vaccine plus booster, was available there- Needless to say, he got the up dated version upon return to the states, I'm sure. We got more of an education that day than the prescribed Intourist program could ever have given!! <BR>

Am having a great time reading these threads, altho I don't think I'll be sharing these with my "kindofnervousto traveloverseas" husband.

If you have to have an accident in Europe, try to do it in Belgium. I tripped on the cobblestones on Bruges in May, and managed to shatter my kneecap. After several hours in the ER, I opted to have the surgery there - a wise move - friendly, spotless, kind -spent four nights in the hospital - flew home - with arm crutches, btw - and am still limping around. However, it was an enlightening experience, which I hope never to repeat - but I can't say enough about the way I was treated - <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>

Israel is a great place to get sick (all those Jewish doctors)! My husband & I awoke at 3 a.m. suffering horribly from salmonella poisoning. I crawled down to the hotel lobby & asked for a doctor. Within one hour, an English-speaking doctor arrived, examined us both, & prescribed drugs. Then he told our traveling companion (who was NOT sick) exactly how to get to a pharmacy that was open on the Sabbath (there aren't many). The doctor refused payment and left while our friend got the prescriptions filled. We were feeling better w/in 3 hours & completely recovered by the next morning (although a little weak). Wish I knew what was in those medicines - probably something the U.S. FDA hasn't approved!

My worst experience was when I was traveling in Peru and broke my leg while climbing in a remote area. My leg was fractured in three places and I had to ride for three days on the back of trucks to get back to Lima where I then had to spend two weeks in the hospital. Though the food was pretty good, I had a cute nurse, and I was able to catch up on all of the telenovelas so I guess it wasn't so bad.