One of the biggest fears I hear about from new and wannabe RVers is what happens if somebody gets sick or seriously injured while traveling. Hopefully it never will, but sometimes life has other plans for us. A little advance preparation will help make things a lot easier.
The first thing you should do is know where you are and where the nearest emergency medical facilities are. When you check into an RV park, ask them where you can seek medical help if needed. I use a free app on my phone called Where Am I? that provides my current street address, the county, and zip code, as well as GPS coordinates. With that I can give 911 operators my exact location anywhere in the country.
Something else that is important and only takes a moment to do is to fill out a small 3×5 index card with your name, current campground address, description of your RV and license plate number, and emergency contact information. Keep it facedown on the dashboard of your car with “Emergency Info” written in large letters on the opposite (visible) side. This can be helpful to emergency responders if you get into an accident while running an errand away from the campground.
Do you know what prescription drugs you take and the dosages? Do you know what your spouse or partner takes? Create a file folder with emergency medical information on your computer that includes this information, any food or medicine allergies, as well as names of your regular doctors, your medical insurance information, and any other important information that Emergency Room personnel will need to know. I uploaded the folder to my free Dropbox account. That way it’s all available on my smart phone wherever I am.
This Dropbox folder should also include copies of advance directives (living wills) and powers of attorney in case your spouse or partner needs to make decisions about your healthcare.
Something else to have in this folder is the names and telephone numbers of your attorney and family members who should be contacted in a medical emergency. If you have preplanned funeral arrangements made, this information should also be in the folder, in case the worst happens.
Once the crisis has passed and you have been stabilized, what’s next? Are you in a secure campground where you can remain until you are well enough to travel? Great. But what if you’re not, or you need to be transported to a facility a distance away? This is why both husband and wife MUST know how to drive the RV.
SkyMed and MASA Assist both provide emergency transport for the patient, and a spouse or partner, to the designated hospital or other location and will also provide qualified drivers to take your RV wherever you direct, in advance.
Nobody sets out on an RV trip expecting to make a detour to the nearest Emergency Room, but it happens. Hopefully, by taking these steps ahead of time, you can make things a little easier for everybody involved.
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Thought For The Day – Knowledge is knowing how. Wisdom is knowing when.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
You might add: call your insurance company and find doctors that will be covered by your insurance. That is what we did when snowbirding in FL.
Also, a membership benefit with FMCA will fly you home and drive your RV home if you qualify. Our friend used this service and it was a life saver…literally.
Great advice Nick. I have done some of what you recommend but will do more today. Thank you!
Excellent advice, you never know what will happen
Excellent advice. Nick! We just got introduced to Dropbox and will develop a folder as you have described. Thank you! Question about free app, “Where Am I.” I looked it up, but there were several with that name. Would you please give me the developer’s name? Thanks!
We are sorry that the medical dweebs in California were an utter fail on your behalf. Seems like it’s hard to find good/conscientious help these days…especially in such a critical field as medicine. We pray that those at the VA Hospital will find the answers that will return you to full health and that you will re-gain your strength and appetite as you wait.
Margery, here is a link to the Where Am I? app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ejelta.whereami&hl=en
We have also gone a step farther by creating 2 flashdrives that have all our accounts and their login info as well as the afor mentioned info. They are in the custody of our children. This allows them to access our stuff. In case of emergency they can pay bills etc for us if needed and answer questions when contacted by emergency personnel
I liked the hint about the information card on the dash of your vehicle. We did that on the dash of our toad when hiking in Big Bend… in case something happened, then emergency personal could get back to our rig that was in a private campground outside of the park boundaries, and help our dogs and contact family.