February 21 is International Mother Language Day - a good time to reflect on the role that language plays within the service underpinning Europesure Travel Insurance’s single trip and annual travel insurance policies.
Our primarily English-speaking clients come from countries right across the EU and EEA, Monaco and Gibraltar, where they could be British expats or just citizens of another European nation who converse fluently and comfortably in English. They travel far and wide and that could well be to a country in which they speak none of the language spoken by the medical team treating them, if they fall ill on a holiday or business trip.
How to communicate with doctors in your holiday location
Just because professionals are trained in surgical and medical skills does not mean they are necessarily fluent in another language. And, as we know, medicine can have a language all of its own, which is complicated enough to comprehend at the best of times. So what would you do, if you fell ill abroad, either on holiday or on a business trip, and could not describe your symptoms? Would you be able to take doctors through your existing medical history and medications? Might it be a struggle to understand what the foreign medical team were explaining and what their diagnosis might be? And, could all of this linguistic confusion lead to you not understanding what you are being charged by the hospital, or what the intended programme of recovery looks like?
Nobody should want to be placed in a position where mis-communication could potentially lead to misdiagnosis. Trying to pick up on non-verbal clues, or drawing images on a piece of paper, is hardly satisfactory. Beyond this, you and your family could be bamboozled by forms and paperwork that needs to be filled in and not know what you are signing for. You might not appreciate the risks associated with suggested treatment. That translation app upon which you have depended may not stand up to scrutiny in a medical context, or even work within the hospital building.
How single trip or annual travel insurance provides the holiday medical support you need
For all these reasons, you need one of the hidden and often forgotten benefits of travel insurance – having access to a medical liaison team who can negotiate with overseas medical teams on your behalf, in their language. These trained professionals can be the essential linguistic support you and your family need and can also take on board the task of communicating with any friends or family back at home.
The medical liaison team will be your support throughout the diagnosis and treatment process and will be perfectly placed to decide whether your medical needs are best served by returning back to your home country. If this is the case, they will arrange the most medically suitable way to do that, whether that is by air ambulance, by special accommodation on a plane, or by road ambulance or boat.
Their ability to liaise with the medical team will also determine when it is appropriate for you to be moved, or make your return trip back home if you are able to travel without a medical team treating you during the journey.
What your single trip or annual travel insurance liaison team can do for you
You can explain your medical background to them and highlight any allergies or special medical situations of which the overseas medical team need to be made aware. They will then pass all of that on to the relevant medics.
Regardless of whether you have bought a single trip travel insurance policy or an annual policy, the team will also make arrangements for any family members who have to stay with you. If they no longer have holiday accommodation booked, this may require the arranging of alternative accommodation, transport and other arrangements.
If you have a complex medical history, you may well have had to explain some of this when taking out your travel insurance cover. If your conditions were already automatically covered by Europesure but might need explaining, if necessary, to a foreign doctor, you could make things simpler for everyone, including your travel insurance back-up team, by taking a list of your conditions and medications with you, or ensuring that can be accessed electronically, if necessary.
Don’t learn your lesson the hard way
If you are not multi-lingual, taking on board the task of communicating with some foreign doctors would be almost impossible. And, whilst you might have deep pockets, would you really want to spend eye-watering sums of money on medical care overseas, when single trip travel insurance or an annual travel insurance policy could have covered that for you?
If you do not make a habit of buying single trip travel insurance each and every time you travel, or don't invest in an annual policy to cover multiple trips during the year, use this Mother Language Day as a reminder of why that needs to change. You and any overseas medical professionals really do need to be talking the same language, should a medical situation or scenario arise.
Head to https://www.europesuretravelinsurance.com to purchase your single trip or annual travel insurance policy today, no matter where you intend to travel or which EU or EEA language you speak. remember, whether you are a UK citizen, European resident in the EU or EEA, or British expat living in Europe, Europesure’s got you covered.
