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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:
-
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.
- 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.
- 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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