MedJet Assist or Global Rescue?

Fred,

I take it you mean actual medivac out of the area? - In which case, neither are the best. The best one by a mile is the Flying Doctor service and they also keep two beds permanently reserved in the IC unit in Nairobbery hospital which is the nearest centre of medical excellence. You'll then need a separate policy to cover anything more than the basic lifesaving treatment.

Let me know if you need contact details etc.

We're planning to expand on this subject on our site at www.shakariconnection.com and we hope to be able to offer a link where you can buy your insurance, including medivac insurance direct from the site, but it's taking a while to sort out. -If you don't mind waiting a month or so, we should have it on the site by then.

I'm familiar with the hospital. Supposed to be pretty good, but Wendell was laid up there with falcipirum and had to get MedJet to fly him back to the states.

I'm interested in both immediate evac, in case somebody gets run over by something big, like a buffalo or a bakkie, or clawed or bitten, and also evacuation back to the states or Europe for better long term care, if needed.

I'm definitely interested in Flying Doctors. Wendell swears by Med Jet.

Thanks.

Last time I was in Tanz (12/05), I called MedJet and they said that they use The Flying Doctors for bush evacuation, and this coverage is part of their standard service. Flights back to the US would be also covered by MedJet. I would check this out, and perhaps GR has a similar arrangement.

Bill's right about Medjet using the flying doctor service - Some other insurance companies also use FDS, but if you go direct to FDS for your medivac policy, you get their own emergency contact details whereas if you go through a 3rd party, you get their contact details which means a slower response time because they then have to contact FDS before the aircraft gets wheels up.

My advice would be to go direct to the FDS for medivac and to go to MJ or other company for treatment cover and return to home country cover.

After reading on these forums about some very disturbing reports of MedJet's lack of care and responsiveness, I have switched to Global Rescue.

I too will be switching to Global Rescue.

I use Global Rescue.

Supposedly, Global Rescue will go to where you are to pick you up, no matter where.

Thanks, guys. Looks like Flying Doctors and Global Rescue.

I changed to Global Rescue and had excellent results when both of my sons got severely ill on an Argentinian bird hunt.

I haven't needed to take advantage of the service but after much research selected Global Rescue. To my recollection, they have professional affiliations with Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. In my mind this was a major plus.

Oday:

You are correct. When my sons got very ill, I decided to call Global Rescue as I was not sure what was going to happen. These boys were really sick. Global Rescue pretty much immediately got a paramedic on the phone. In a very short period of time ( I believe 30 minutes), they had a doctor from Johns Hopkins on the phone with me. He was the head of that particular specialty. It was very comforting.

This doctor told me which hospital to take them to and exactly what tests to have done. He also advised what to be on the look out for.

I ended up flying the boys back commercial. They were better and I had first class seats.

Now for the kicker, when i got back, Global Rescue called more than once to followup and see how the boys were doing!

I am sticking with Global Rescue.

Larry:

If you don't mind saying, what did the boys have and how did they get it? I'm thinking of taking my family to Argentina. I've always found it to be pretty clean as long as one kept to the straight and narrow places.

They had a high fever and were losing it severely from both ends. They were both very pale. This went on for days.

I was in the same camps and ate the same foods as did my brother. We didn't get sick. We always drank bottled water.

I brought in several local doctors that didn't do much good. After we got back, they were tested. Both had a stomach parasite.

Our best theory on how they got this starts with one afternoon where they hunted together on a relatively small pothole. There were lots of cattle about. The cattle were in the water frequently. The water was green. It was certainly water one should never ingest. Our guess is that somehow they got some of the water in their mouth. It could have been as simple as water off their waders dripped on their water bottles.

I have been 4 or 5 years in a row and never had a similar problem before or since. I am going again in July.

If you want more info PM me. Sorry for the delay.

Global Rescue for sure.

I have been a memeber of Medjet for years -- never had to use them -- which is way good!!!---however -- switching to Global this year --- hope I never have to use them either.
G

Insurance of any sort is only expensive until you need.

I hope no one ever need the services of either company.

Try the link below and then clicking the 'Travel Guard' ad. You can get everything you need from ordinary travel insurance to medivac etc there and even design your own policy to include/exclude whatever you need.

http://www.shakariconnection.c...ravel-insurance.html

quote:

Wendell swears by Med Jet.

Nope, My wife had argue and threaten to sue them to get me out of Nairobi.

Get this, MedJet lobbied to have me discharged from the hospital in Nairobi to release them from their obligation.

Think about that for a moment. What was I to do? Check into a hotel in Nairobi until I was able to walk and hope I didn't die?

So, not only did they attempt to deny evac service, they knowingly attempted to put my life in danger by denying me medical care!

I am a GR man now!

As for The Flying Doctors, these guys are top notch. I was extremely impressed with the quality of equipment and care from them. They flew from Nairobi to Tanzania in a King Air (no, I do not remember which King Air, but it I don't think it was the small one.)

I can't say enough about The Flying Doctors. They are top notch in my book!

Here is a link to Global Rescue (Medical Evac) and Travel Guard (cancelation insurance) - I recommend both.

Global Rescue

Travel Guard

So I guess it is "Wendell swears at MedJet" now?

quote:

Get this, MedJet lobbied to have me discharged from the hospital in Nairobi to release them from their obligation.

Think about that for a moment. What was I to do? Check into a hotel in Nairobi until I was able to walk and hope I didn't die?

So, not only did they attempt to deny evac service, they knowingly attempted to put my life in danger by denying me medical care!

That speaks volumes.

Great information, gentlemen. That's a shocker about MedJet attempting to get you discharged to avoid responsibility. If I wasn't already conviced to try GR, I am now.

I'll try your link, Steve. Still have to firm up our airline reservations first. Thanks again.

Have not had a chance to "test" Global Rescue, but I gave their salesman a hell of an interrogation! He answered more questions than he ever has on their policy. He had to get answers to a lot of them and call me back.

After my experience with MedJet, I had a hard time trusting any Medevac company.

FWIW, MedJet did take me home, but if you have to fight for it, the risk is not worth it!