This thread brings back wonderful memories of Chief Inspector Clouseau closing in on the culprits. Who wants to be Cato?

RIP Peter Sellers.

No one raised a red flag until late and now everyone piles on - we see thisn all the time - some new poster posts something damning about something and gets labeled automatically a troll - could be but may not be - folks who have experiences like that alleged one yes often take to multiple forums to vent their anger - most cases true I think but then get slandered by Fodorgarchs as automatically being trolls.

Sad.

I worked in a major US medical center. Many, many language translators were avaialble and for less common languages they could be made avaialble in 24 hours.

Doctors are trained to be able to do their work with an unresponsive patient. It is good that the OPs husband got the necessary treatment and had a good result. The fact that the language barrier somehow made the process more difficult is regrettable, but not the fault of the local medical system. If the OP only spoke Farsi or Mongolian and the hospital didn't provide for that would there still be a complaint?

If the OP was interested in progress reports I am sure that a daily or other periodical conference with a hired translator in attendance could have been arranged.

It depends probably on U S hospital and language required - an Italian needing hospitalization in rural areas is unlikely to have translators - those in urban areas and especially univerisity towns probably.

When I worked as a volunteer translator at the Ospedale Santa Maria Nuova in Florence, none of the ER staff spoke more than a few words in English. They were eager to learn more words, but none were equipped to translate. Only one doctor knew more English words than any of the others, but his English was pitiful. He did try, though.

<i><font color=#555555>"they didn't actually have a life threatening accident, so I'm not sure why a teaching hospital is relevant."</font></i>

By "life threatening," I meant in the realm of "quality of life." Not live or die. I would say a bone fracture in the leg that requires surgery and a three-week hospital stay is pretty serious. You need your legs to walk in life. Some bone fractures are so serious, they require metal pins or screws installed. Emergency situations often don't give you a chance to be picky about the orthopedic surgeon you get. If I had to choose my luck, I'd prefer not to be in Venice when something like this happens.

I hate to be cynical. There's enough to be cynical about in today's world. I agree that the thread has revealed some thoughtful insight, but the empty details and the unanswered questions leave the OP looking very suspect. For all we know, this is a clever way to advertise Travel Safe. This is the world we live in now. You simply can't take anything you read on the internet too seriously, until some form of validation is provided.

I hadn't even thought of that! I honestly think--still, although I am less certain now--that the OP had a miserable experience, breaking her leg badly and then suffering in a foreign hospital.

I also think that choosing to post on an anonymous online forum means that she is going to be questioned--I think we have the right to question, and that's not piling on. I agree, however, that the "troll" accusations are a bit much.

Could this really be advertising for TravelSafe??

What if the OP ain't a troll? Pretty shabby treatment then. she hasn't come back as usual for first-time poster doing rounds of forums expressing a miserable experience- also traits of a troll.

OP are you in the house? Or stuck in some hospital sans Internet?

OP has already returned, and essentially said, "Eff off."

PQ - what do you mean she hasn't come back??? Sure she has, your reading comprehension is off again. Still hasn't disclosed the name of the tour company, though, which I find suspect.

<i><font color=#555555>"What if the OP ain't a troll? Pretty shabby treatment then."</font></i>

Not when you consider what the Fodorgarchs put most everyone through, including you, Pal. This is no time to present yourself in your hypocrite robe. You still appear naked to most of us, and it ain't pretty. (Said with love, :-) )

<i><font color=#555555>"Could this really be advertising for TravelSafe??"</font></i>

If you've studied Trip Advisor as long as I have, you'd be amazed by the clever things businesses are doing to shill on the internet. This is our new age of forum life, and users better get in tune. Business leaders know the power of travel forums, and they're trying very hard to get their name mentioned in a positive light without being clocked.

I've learned to view all "horror" stories as suspect, especially the ones where the OP leaves out crucial information and/or disappears. We're in the age of fake news folks, whether we like it or not. I suggest you learn how to fight it.

Truth can be difficult to come by, but we must never stop seeking it.

If the tour company was so vigilant, how could the tour guide not know procedure for an unexpected medical situation/emergency - I would think tour guides are (or I would hope they are but don't know never having been on a tour) aware of such important information when leading around a group of people in various destinations. Like how to call an ambulance, at the very least.

Also isn't this hospital the only one in Venice proper? I always thought so. When the OP says she wished she had known about it beforehand as though she had another choice of hospital. Is there another hospital?

And then if checking in every day and being told no translator is around to assist, might at least find that info for the injured person?

Whatever happened or didn't happen here, maybe it has been helpful to future travelers about what to read up on before going to a foreign country in case something happens.

The report has been reposted on TripAdvisor using another name

The report has been reposted on TripAdvisor using another name>

So? Do folks use the same names from forum to forum? And if true OP would want to get it out on every forum. Who knows? Yes maybe a paid Russian ad for TravelSafe, perhaps a Putin-Trump-Ross company?

PQ: >>So? Do folks use the same names from forum to forum? <<

It seems you missed the point. It was '<u>re-posted</u>' - i.e. a second time. It was posted previously and pulled by TA. So now the OP has re-registered and posted it again.

Interestingly, it's not a straight copy and paste. In that one, the first post says the tour guide DID translate for them at the hospital. And the boat captain said in Italian he "couldn't" take them to the hospital in Italian- people there have speculated that it was too large of a boat to be allowed to go in that direction. It would make sense.

And when the er folks came in to revive the neighbor, one of the younger doctors was "talking and laughing". Apparently the op was traumatized by the person dying in front of her. Think about how the medical personnel felt. Geez. No one wants to lose a patient.

I'm even more skeptical. I think her problem was that she was NOT in the US. Because she was in Italy. But that is not at all the hospital's fault. I don't think she'd have been satisfied if she'd been in Naples, or France, or Spain. On the other hand, I'm less inclined to say it's some sort of weird advertisement.

Did you flag it?

I too am increasingly wary about forums like TA being used as advertising forums. But, when that is the case the poster typically comes out and up-front says something like "I am so glad company xyz was there to help me when I had this kind of problem on my trip." In this case there were probably 50 posts before the name of the travel insurance company was named. Today's internet readers won't sift through and read down 50 posts in order to find the name of the insurance company that was so great. I do not think it is promotional.

And, I don't think this is a troll. This is a case of someone who is really furious about the treatment she got. Whether the details are coherent or not is another story altogether.

I guess the one thing I do find weird is that despite the OP having made several postings, I still do not know if this was a cruise ship or a day trip with a large company or a tour group visiting Venice for a couple days or a case of someone having hired a private guide to take them around to see Venice.

Ah, never mind, the wording is the same. It's just that she made it sound like she had no translator. The tour guide was the translator. I need coffee.

No, I never bother flagging. The DEs tend to be overeager to do so, I leave them to it.

Right, Julies. If it was promotional, the name of the insurance co would be prominent in the first post. I don't think it is.

The only reason I can think that she would be unwilling to clarify the tour company is that if they were named, she knows they could possibly find the posts, identify her and probably discredit her story.

So even if she's not a troll, I think she's certainly aware that she's not accurately portraying the hospital.