Negril Ambulance

[Rob]

Excuse my ignorance on this, but if one company wants to respond here, then why can't they just do that?

It's a rather large company. They have never done anything like this before, so they need to have whatever they post approved by some committee and their legal department I would assume. Who knows how long that will take.

These companies may even be working on partnering with other foreign insurance companies. There can be a lot involved. Other than one company, they were rather surprised when I showed them the tourism interest. They were created to serve the needs of the local residents and marketing to visitors to the island is a new thing for them.

[Rob]

I'll be waiting to see what comes of this..Not one of them could give at least an "aproximate" rate for transfer to Mobay or even Sav ???? I'm surprised someone that has lived there so long and is so well versed about the communty has not come across this situation- maybe not you in particular but friends or fellow boardies who had to use the private ambulance-i thought maybe you'd have some feedback from someone whos dealt with issue...

ok, i'll check back and see what info turns up....thanks

I have never had to use the ambulance. I have been to the hospital but always went with a friend.

From those who I know have used a private ambulance, they paid by credit card and got reimbursed by their health insurance company back home. I didnt want to pry into their private matters to find out how much they paid or how much they got reimbursed, it didnt seem like any business of mine.

Feel free to contact the companies yourself if you so desire.

[TAH]

It's a rather large company. They have never done anything like this before, so they need to have whatever they post approved by some committee and their legal department I would assume. Who knows how long that will take.

These companies may even be working on partnering with other foreign insurance companies. There can be a lot involved. Other than one company, they were rather surprised when I showed them the tourism interest. They were created to serve the needs of the local residents and marketing to visitors to the island is a new thing for them.

Gotcha, thanks. That makes sense.

[monica]

This is so taken for granted - as tourists we purchase travellers insurance and would expect medical emergency services. I think this is crucial information which should be readily available at hotels and excursions such as Ricks. Hotels should also have a defibrillator like Sea Star. I also found this site for air ambulance - http://www.intlairlink.net/air-ambulance.html.

[Accompong]

I find this all very interesting. I have never purchased insurance that would pay for an emergency requiring me to be flown out but I do see the benefit for doing so. I will be monitoring this thread to get the best information I can for future stays.

A little off the topic but, during a 5 month stay last year I became very sick. I was doubled over in pain, disoriented and unable to walk without assistance. Needless to say, I was scared and didn't know what would happen. I live in the bush so even getting to a hospital emergency room was a chore. I got a ride in a taxi from Accompong Town to Black River Hospital and was admitted into Intensive Care for treatment and observation before finally moved to a Men's Dormitory to finish up a 5 day stay. After the 5 days, the doctor still wanted to keep me but I am stubborn and wanted to finish the treatment myself at home as it was just minor medication.

What the whole ordeal cost me was $250.00 US. $100 for the private taxi to and from the hospital and another $150.00 for 5 days in the hospital. That was $30 per day average. I couldn't even find a hotel room for that price let alone a hospital room. Now, I am not saying that everything was par with my "first world" excellent care I receive from the Veteran's Hospital in WPB, Fl. but it was on par with any rural hospital that I have been in the US.

I had an infection in my digestive system somewhere and a possible pancreatic attack. Of course if it would have been more major I would have been "S*** out of luck" and stuck in a Foreign Country but I am not so afraid now of using the Jamaican Health Care System if it becomes necessary.

I do, however, want to explore my other options for future stays.

Peace and Guidance

[Rob]

Monica,

That is part of the information I am trying to receive from each of the companies. Do all travellers insurance policies cover the private ambulance costs, and if so, how much? And if not, which ones do?

What health insurance plans have reciprocal coverage in Jamaica?

Each person travelling abroad should check the fine print of their health insurance policies and find out what services are covered and not covered abroad. Most decent policies would have these expenses covered, but unless their is a reciprocal arrangement with an insurance company in Jamaica (I think Blue Cross has one with Sagicor, but am not positive) you would need to pay locally, keep the receipt and have your insurance company reimburse you when you get back home.

To get all the correct information that is being asked in this thread, as I stated, there are a lot of issues involved to be accurate - it is not just a simple, "for this ambulance ride you pay this much". And remember that the hospital/emergency costs will need to be covered as well. if you need an ambulance, the ambulance cost may be the least of your worries.

Two of the companies I am dealing with also offer air ambulance services and have offices on other Caribbean islands. This is one of their specialties.

The Air Link Express charter service link you posted is essentially a local island charter service that offers air ambulance as one of their services. The majority of their business comes from taking passengers across the island - normally the MoBay-Kingston route for business people who need to conduct business in Kingston. They do not specialize in air ambulance services, but do offer that service.

And this situation is something on the mind of each person who lives in and around Negril. We live with this on a daily basis - which is why Cliff Reynolds was so adamant about the problem in the article posted. But the fire department spokesman was correct, it was a motorcycle (two actually) that caused the accident. I drove by moments after it happened and one of the cyclists was being helped into a taxi to go to the emergency room in Sav. He was banged up pretty bad.

[Melody]

Thanks for your responses Rob.

It will be good to know all those little details when they are ready to be publicized. In the meantime, I'd just like to know names and numbers as well as email/websites for those that do service Negril, preferably with trained personnel and decent emergency equipment, both ground and air, if offered from the Negril airport. I didn't have much success identifying that by googling. I could then take that info to my global insurance provider to find out if that's approved and how to handle for reimbursement. My company would ultimately be the deciding factor for reimbursement, not the one providing the service. A big question is whether the companies take only cash or accept credit card.

[don+shelley]

Thank you for looking into this, Rob... Could literally be life saving information...

[farmer]

The wife and I stay in a two bedroom villa for the winter .The second bedroom is for friends and relatives rotating in and out.
Our nephew ,new wife and 1 year old baby were with us this past Feb. The baby ended up with an ear infection from the flight down
which ended up with siezures that they couldn't control.We told the front desk and they called a private ambulance.The ride took only 30 minutes
My wife and nephew and his wife rode in the back.Halfway they pulled over as my nephew was white from riding so fast in the back .They gave him oxygen and put him in the front.Three days later they were still in the Sav hospital.Somewhere around 100 people were in the waiting room.Anger and frustration was in everybodies face.During the night the police came in three times to defuse frustrations.They gave the baby a spinal tap without anestetia to rule out menegitis .They took the medicine that the parents had brought along and refused to let them administer them.A call back home to their baby doctor to assure they were doing the right thing angered the Sav dr. saying she knew how to handle this.Their dr. back home told the parents to get the baby to the U.S. as quick as they could as time was of the essence.Multiple siezures are not good.The parents put down two credit cards for $18,000 for med vac.The hospital would not give medvac any info.Three days after arriving at the hospital the medvac ambulance came with 2 American Dr./nurses and immediately administered the medicine the parents had and flew them to a Florida hospital where they stayed for 4 days before they flew home.
The private ambulance ride to Sav was $50 paid in advance.They were there in 5 minutes.The wife and I will carry insurance from now on.We also dicussed which hospital we would like to be brought to with other long stayers in our complex and we all agreed to take he extra time to go to Mobay than Sav. Hope this helps with the discussion.We certainly don't want to go through that again.
Farmer

[booger]

The wife and I stay in a two bedroom villa for the winter .The second bedroom is for friends and relatives rotating in and out.
Our nephew ,new wife and 1 year old baby were with us this past Feb. The baby ended up with an ear infection from the flight down
which ended up with siezures that they couldn't control.We told the front desk and they called a private ambulance.The ride took only 30 minutes
My wife and nephew and his wife rode in the back.Halfway they pulled over as my nephew was white from riding so fast in the back .They gave him oxygen and put him in the front.Three days later they were still in the Sav hospital.Somewhere around 100 people were in the waiting room.Anger and frustration was in everybodies face.During the night the police came in three times to defuse frustrations.They gave the baby a spinal tap without anestetia to rule out menegitis .They took the medicine that the parents had brought along and refused to let them administer them.A call back home to their baby doctor to assure they were doing the right thing angered the Sav dr. saying she knew how to handle this.Their dr. back home told the parents to get the baby to the U.S. as quick as they could as time was of the essence.Multiple siezures are not good.The parents put down two credit cards for $18,000 for med vac.The hospital would not give medvac any info.Three days after arriving at the hospital the medvac ambulance came with 2 American Dr./nurses and immediately administered the medicine the parents had and flew them to a Florida hospital where they stayed for 4 days before they flew home.
The private ambulance ride to Sav was $50 paid in advance.They were there in 5 minutes.The wife and I will carry insurance from now on.We also dicussed which hospital we would like to be brought to with other long stayers in our complex and we all agreed to take he extra time to go to Mobay than Sav. Hope this helps with the discussion.We certainly don't want to go through that again.
Farmer

Farmer, I am sorry to hear what your family had to endure. I have yet to hear a good thing about Sav Hospital and one should be advised to make the extra leg to Mobay. Thanks for sharing your story to help us all be better informed.