UEG:Please do! I think my Hein 450 Dakota will be ready for the Dallas Convention. I think you made a wise choice with the Global guys, those kittys can be nasty!

Forrest; Thanks. I have the Plat as well but I just didn't know if their medical covered it or they were just "guaranteeing" you would pay the Amex charge. jorge

Just to throw something else in the mix, anyone know about the medical coverage/evacuation services through travelguard?

Gentlemen,
Nic here. I am no longer associated with Global Rescue so your questions will have to be directed elsewhere. Sorry I can no longer be of assistance.

A respected outfitter in Tanzania had secured an arrangement with Medjet whereby it was agreed by Medjet that the decision on whether a medical air evacuation from the bush was necessary would fall on the PH or the outfitter senior management. A list of these individuals was kept with Medjet so that if any one of them called and requested evac, Medjet covered it. In Tanzania, Medjet use the services of AMREF (AKA Flying doctor's) based out of Nairobi. This organisation covers the entire East African region and is highly experienced with bush medical air evac. Apparently, thyis arrangement between Medjet and the outfitter lasted 1 season and was discountinued because their services were required on several occasions involving evacuation of staff members from the field who were medjet members as well for illnesses such as malaria and tick fever. Medjet did not like the regularity that their services were required...

On a side note, if anyone hunts Tanzania, they can aquire direct membership from AMREF for $50 a year that covers 1 evacuation within 500 Km of Nairobi. This covers air medical evac to the nearest qualified hospital which in most cases is Nairobi. One can do a search for more info.

quote:

Gentlemen,
Nic here. I am no longer associated with Global Rescue so your questions will have to be directed elsewhere. Sorry I can no longer be of assistance.

One day he is the Director of Operations answering our questions on AR and the next he is no longer working for them.

This does not give me too much confidence.

Yikes, Nic.
If you would like please contact me directly at rkmojo@aol.com

Rough week, uh?

What happened to Nic? Hell, I was liking the way GR sounded....

I used Sposrtsman Travel Insurance on my last trip to Africa for MedEvac and Travel Insurance. Never had to use them, but did some research and appeared to be the best.

http://www.sportsmanstravelinsurance.com/

I changed jobs recently and my new company now covers me and my family free of charge under MedJet - why I don't know, its a high tech company I work for and I don't travel overseas. Maybe because I'm an executive.

Also, for any high worth folks out there, check the credit cards issued by your bank/brokersge. I use UBS and they have some good medvac coverage standard with the credit cards for the card holders and immediate family.

So I guess with triple coverage I should be able to find someone to help me!

Austin Hunter,

Okay I just went to the sportsman travel link you posted and was going to educate myself about their services as part of my 2008 trip planning. After selecting the appropriate state of residence (Washington in my case) and clicking on to the next page, well to my surprise (maybe not) they (sportsman) says they have no products or services available for Wasington state residences. Now while maybe you had good servie with them, I can't seem to get anywhere on their site and wonder if they are any better than MedJet( whom I thought I would use on this trip) and what Ive read about GR.

Bootom line I think its all anther INSURANCE (of some type, my god how can we live our lives without insurance for everthing we do )scam and way to take our money and then fight to pay out any coverage we have promised those who sign up (in which we the insurance carrier are making big big bucks anyway).

While I bought neither trip nor medical insurance for my 2003 Africa trip, I was going to get both this time around for 2008, now I wonder how much good it will do to have it if I or someone else has to argue and fight with the chosen carriers if and when I were to really need it.

Maybe I should jsut take my AE card and hope they will help out as they did for ForrestB.


Willi

Guys,

Out of the blue a gentleman from Global Rescue contacted me named Stu Richards. We talked for quite awhile and he agreed that they had dropped the ball on my request and apologised without any lame excuses which I appreciated. He did confirmed that Nic Mc Kinley is no longer associated with GR.

Bottom line is I feel a litte better about them. They can't cover every single scenario that comes up but it would seem they do cover more situations than the competition and are more willing to organize a rescue or whatever is necessary. Time will tell.

Mark

Mark:

Stu Richards is the guy I dealt with recently while in was in Argentina and my sons got very ill. He was very much on top of everything. He called repeatedly to check on things and offer any further assistance he could. He even called after we were back in the US to check and see how my sons were.

Just a word of caution, one can discuss "what-if" scenarios with the various companies until the cows come home but it doesn't mean much when the time comes to collect on the policy. The terms of the policy, and more specifically, the company's interpretation of the terms of the policy will govern the insurance company's response when one really needs them. One can always sue for coverage after the fact but that will be a lousy consolation.

Larry,

Stu mentioned your situation in Argentina and was surprised to hear that it was already on the Internet.

Forrest,

Like I said "Time will tell". At least they stepped up and apologised.

Mark

bisonhunter1

please see www.insuremytrip.com for a variety of insurance options available in Washington

This is JJ and I'm an operations analyst at Global Rescue and will do my best to answer a few more of your questions.

“A member is stranded in Western Tanzania, he is very sick. He is close to a dirt strip with coordinates 4 19 53 S, 31 39 00 E. The strip can accommodate one of the larger King Air's, but it is an unimproved dirt strip. What is your plan to extract him and where would you take him? What resources would you use?â€

There are obviously many details here that we are not privy to. However, given the general information provided, what follows is a brief response:

This is a remote and difficult to access area. However, there are several options for the extraction. Global Rescue has access to several helicopters and fixed wing turboprop aircraft within several hundred miles of this location. Response time for the helos would be highly variable depending on crew status, weather and the relatively long travel distances. These factor may or may not have enabled medical and air crews from reaching the scene quickly. The following two options would have been explored and one of them implemented by Global Rescue:

1) Evacuation to Nairobi via fixed wing turboprop aircraft (which I think is what occurred) from the dirt strip, to be met by a medevac jet to Europe and then North America. Hospitals en route would be on stand-by in case stabilization was needed that couldn’t be performed on the aircraft.
2) Evacuation from the nearest accessible LZ via helicopter to the nearest hardened airfield (there are two within 150 miles of this location) to be met by a medevac jet from Europe.

It should be noted that medical personnel would be instructed to remain with the patient for the duration of the evac, even if this required dispatching personnel from the U.S. and/or Europe.

"I fail to see where GR offers any superior services that [others] do not already have in place."

As far as we know, Global Rescue is the only company that does the following:

1) Field rescue using any and all assets at our disposal (fixed and rotary wing aircraft, ground and sea vehicles, horses, etc.)
2) Provide advice from some of the best physicians available through our exclusive relationship with Johns Hopkins; this way our members get the best advice regarding what to do in real-time
3) Deploy personnel, many of whom are current and former military, to perform evacuations and recovery
4) Deploy to difficult and sometimes hostile locations

"Would a serious eye injury be grounds for evacuation and transfer back to USA??"

Again, without knowing the details, this injury would qualify for evacuation (any injury or illness that would require inpatient hospitalization qualifies). We would, however, be concerned about the stresses that flight (altitude/pressure especially) would inflict on the eye and weigh very carefully what would provide the patient with the best likelihood of a good outcome. Ultimately, however, it would be up to the patient regarding the decision to transport.

There was a question regarding the departure of a member of our operations staff. While Global Rescue does not publicly comment on personnel decisions, we are continuely improving and adding to our staff to provide the highest quality services to our members. We are standing by 24x7x365 to provide critical medical, rescue and transport services to our members.

Many of our employees have dedicated their lives to providing critical medical, rescue, protection and transport services to those in need. Our Members are the reason Global Rescue exists and we take the trust they have placed in us extremely seriously. While we cannot control the outcome of all cases, we do everything in our power to influence them in our members’ favor.

Those with further questions or who would like to enroll in membership are welcome to contact us at 800-381-9754.

And for the truly adventurous (or paranoid) among us....

http://breitling.com/en/models/professional/emergency/

I am also a GR member. Switched after Don's report. Hope I never have to use it.