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 All
global travellers
should carry some sort of medical kit when they are travelling
abroad, but determining the size and contents of the kit can
sometimes be a problem since there are literally dozens of
medicines from which to choose.
The
choice is further complicated by the destination and type
of holiday and/or activity undertaken e.g. people travelling
to a European resort will require fewer medicines than those
going to a developing country in the tropics and high altitude
climbers and trekkers will need different medicines than scuba
divers.
Knowing
which medicines to include and which to leave out can
pose real problems for the layman and this is where the Travel
Doctor can help you. This web site can put together a customised
list of medicines specifically for your trip, based on the
information you supply to our interactive questionnaire.
 The
questionnaire begins by asking for personal information
such as your name, address, telephone number and email address
(this information is NEVER passed on to a third party).
It then continues by asking for information about your
trip. This includes the main country of your destination.
If you are planning to travel to several countries within
a region you should choose the country in which you will be
spending most of your time.
 In
many instances there will be no difference between the countries
in a region due to the similar conditions and climate of those
countries. For example; if you were planning a trip to South
East Asia and were planning to visit Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia
& Laos on a single trip. By entering any of the four countries
listed you would get the same end result due to their close
similarities.
The next items of information include your date of
departure, the duration of your trip (in days) and the number
of males and females travelling in your group. This is in
order to determine the quantities of medicines required.
An important item of information is the proposed activity
that you will be undertaking during your trip. The list of
recommended medicines will vary hugely depending on your choice
of input here. For ease of operating a drop down list has
been created for you to choose from. The list of activities
is as follows:
| Holidaying/Business/Skiing |
When
you choose this option it will be assumed that you are
travelling on an organised trip or to a holiday resort
where the medical facilities at your destination will
be of a high standard and you will have easy access
to any required medicines and/or medical treatment.
The list of medicines in this instance will be kept
to the minimum necessary and only a small list of essential
items will be selected.
Although this option will be usually selected for travel
to a European, North American, etc. resort, it is also
appropriate for more exotic locations such as Mexico,
Kenya or Thailand where the accommodation consists of
high class, air conditioned, resort hotels with modern
facilities. The same applies to business travellers
who intend confining their travels to cities with modern
hotels and conference facilities. However, you should
still check the local vaccination and malaria requirements
for your destination country since this may not be the
same as a European resort.
Since the vast majority of skiiing holidays take place
in ski resorts and are a world apart from the traveller
who goes trekking in the himalayasthis would also be
the best option. For those more adventurous travellers
who intend skiing into remote mountain areas, the mountaineering
or trekking option would be more appropriate.
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Backpacking/Safari/Long
Term
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This option assumes that you will require a greater
degree of self sufficiency during your trip and will
therefore increase the list of medicines to include
various items such as antibiotics which were not included
in the first option.
Backpackers will be assumed to be travelling through
a region using the public transport infrastructure of
that region and mainly staying in accommodations in
villages, towns and cities.
The safari option is designed for private safaris organised
in the destination country itself rather than the organised
safaris run by many of the major tour companies from
resort hotels.
The long term option is for business travellers, volunteer
workers, missionaries etc. who will have a greater degree
of interaction with the local population and will not
be using high class hotels etc. exclusively for their
accommodation.
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Trekking/Mountaineering
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 These
are the expedition type holidays where the destinations
include the remote regions of the world which are very
often mountainous regions. Thse trips involve a relatively
high degree of exertion and self sufficiency.
Backpackers travelling to remote regions would be better
suited to this option rather than the previous. Sometimes
it is possible to join organised trekking expeditions
where medical requirements have already been arranged.
It is always a good idea to check this with the organisation
involved before you travel.
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Cycling/Mountain
Biking
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 This
option will be fairly similar to the previous in that
it will assume a relatively high degree of exertion
and self sufficiency. Although cyclists on the whole
tend not to go into such remote locations as mountaineers,
they do have the ablity to travel quickly and can find
themselves far from medical help in a relatively short
space of time. Any subsequent injury that required hospitalisation
could then become a serious problem if they were unable
to return by bike to get to a hospital. The journey
back could take far longer than anticipated and this
should be taken into account when filling in the questionnaire.
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Canoeing/Rafting
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Again this will be very similar to the previous option
but will take into account the fact that the travellers
will be exposed to local water sources such as rivers
& lakes etc. Sometimes river expeditions can travel
into remote places where it is difficult to get access
other than by river. This should be taken into account
when deciding how long it would take to get an injured
person to hospoital. In some instances it may be possible
to air lift the casualty out by helicopter although
this may not be an option in some countries or locations.
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| Scuba
Diving |
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 This
option also assumes a relatively high degree of self
sufficiency. However, most organised dive tours will
have made arrangements for medical facilities and requirements
will not be so great on this type of trip as they would
if you were organising your own expedition. Again, it
is wise to check before travelling.
If you are diving out of a hotel resort with a dive
centre then the first option (holidaying etc.) would
probably be more appropriate. If you do choose the scuba
diving option, you can always modify the list of medicines
according to the facilities made available by the tour
operator.
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Finally,
the questionnaire asks for some supplimentary information:
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It
asks if you intend to travel to an altitude in excess
of 10,000 feet/3,000 metres in order to determine whether
or not you will require medicines for use with altitude
acclimatisation or treatment of mountain sickness.
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It
asks for the anticipated number of days travel to the
nearest hospital by any means available i.e. walking or
using some form of transport. This is usually for those
travelling in remote areas. In the event of an accident
and one or more of the party requiring hospitalisation.
A number of strong pain killers will be included for those
persons involved to get them to hospital in some degree
of comfort. The number prescribed will depend on the time
required to get to a hospital.
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It
asks whether any person in the group is allergic to penicillin.
In this case a positive response results in all the penicillin
antibiotics being substituted for non-penicillin alternatives.
Once you
have completed the questionnaire you can click on the "Submit"
button to send your data across. You will then go to a confirmation
screen inorming you that your data is being processed and
since this service involves the nominal charge of £5.you
will be asked to proceed to the next stage which involves
filling in your credit card details on a secure page. Once
your credit card details have been processed you will be taken
to a page which confirms that your list is ready and provides
you with a unique link to its location and the confirmation
that an email has been sent to the adress given.
When you click on the unique link you will be taken to your
Customised Medical List. This list will remain active for
about three months before it is deleted and you will be able
to access it at any during that period.
Please note: using the browser "back" button
to return to the questionnaire during the sign up process
will result in the destination country being reset to Afghanistan
(first alphabetically) so you should always ensure that the
correct country is selected before proceeding.
We strongly recommend that you read the instructions at the
top of your Customised Medical List and make a printed copy
immediately just in case you lose your unique link. However,
if for any reason you do lose the link, you can email us and
we will send it back out to you by return.
To
access this interactive service:
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