There is no denying how much fun it is to travel and explore foreign countries; but, while you might not like to think about the worst case scenarios, you should. Imagine being in the middle of a strange town, city or village and you find yourself either feeling ill or injure yourself, what next?
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If you were back home you would probably, if you had access to your phone, use 999 and call for an ambulance or you would be able to manoeuvre yourself to the nearest doctor’s surgery or hospital, depending on how serious you felt or knew your condition was.
If you are somewhere new and strange, you might not know where to go, and even if you know where the hospital is, you might not be able to reach it. Obviously, it is vital to learn as much as you can about local hospitals and amenities before you arrive, but for emergencies, your best friend could be your smartphone or tablet.
In the following post we will look at some of the best travel apps available for those times like the situation described above, medical emergencies and how they can help you.
TravelSmart
This free app makes use of your smartphone or tablet’s GPS capabilities gives you not only a full list of hospitals in 129 countries (that have been screened and vetted by the reputable travel insurance company Allianz Global) but also provides you for the emergency services numbers you need for your current destination. As if that wasn’t enough, the app also enables you to translate various first aid terms for the spoken language of your holiday destination and gives you a “drug dictionary” that features the most common medications and their names in various languages.
TravelSmart is free and available on iOS and Android.
Find-ER by Air Ambulance Card
Created by Air Ambulance Card, the service that flies American and Canadian nationals home to hospitals in their own countries if they are injured or sick, the Find-ER app gives you the details and directions to the nearest hospital to your location. It also can store important information such as pharmacy names and phone numbers, emergency contacts and your doctor’s phone number too. As a bonus, it also includes a list of medication you are taking and any conditions you may have had in the past.
Find-ER is free and available on iOS.
Travel Health Guide
Do you know how to cure seasickness quickly? Do you know the signs to look out for that suggest you may be suffering from heat exhaustion? You no longer have to guess at these kinds of questions because this app well help you figure what’s wrong and point you to some quick and effective remedies. Although this was created by the app company WaKi Apps Ltd, it comes with the professional backing of Dr Deborah Mills, known as the Travel Doctor for her 20 years of experience looking after travellers and their various ailments.
Travel Health Guide is available on iOS and Android.
iTriage
Created by Healthagen, a company that works on developing medical technology, this app not only gives you a list of common ailments and their symptoms, it will also help you find the nearest hospital to your current location and give you an estimation of how long you might have to wait at urgent care facilities and emergency rooms. You can even use it to check into many emergency clinics using your smartphone or make appointments with particular doctors if you don’t need an emergency appointment. Along with all this you can also store important information such as the medical conditions you may suffer from, medications you are taking and emergency contacts.
iTriage is free and available on iOS and Android from itriagehealth.com.
In Case of Emergency (ICE)
Have you ever wished you could just have all your medical records stored on one app? If yes, try out this new app from Matrix Mobile Applications. It will keep everything stored about you, including weight, height and blood type and any allergies you might have. It will also keep a logging of the most recent medications you have been prescribed and any vaccinations you may have had. This information sit alongside the vital information such as insurance details and the app will also help you to find various emergency services in over 200 countries.
ICE is free and available on iOS and Android from incaseofemergency.org.
Conclusion
Obviously the list above is not exhaustive and there are many other apps out there, but you could see the ones mentioned as a good introduction. They are some of the most popular and some of the most useful. It is never a good idea just to rely on one of these apps, but when you are in a foreign city and are feeling under the weather, they can get you the help you need.
