I have often thought about this very topic. Many years ago I was in Negril with a friend who one day came down with terrible pain in his side. I hired a taxi and we carried him to the hospital in SAV. At that time staffed mostly by Cubans so very little English spoken which made things difficult. Anyway he was stabilized and after a couple day stay released. They were unable to determine the cause of his illness. When he got back stateside he determined it was kidney stones.

At that time I asked myself what if something really bad happened what would you do??? I live in New England and there are still some very rural areas here mostly in the north of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine where there are very few people and in some cases no cell service. If someone had the misfortune of a heart attack or other extreme emergency, that most likely would be fatal.

I realize that is not a fair comparison with Jamaica and in this case Negril because of the amount of people that either live in or frequent JA. I guess if you are a tourist travel insurance would slightly increase the odds of surviving a medical emergency. But as others have pointed out if the problem is time sensitive (heart attack) not having emergency care nearby would be hard to survive.

It seems to me that those who have the most to gain, especially in Negril, such as the big companies that own multiple properties would be in a position to help build a comprehensive 24/7 emergency outpost such as halfwaytree suggests.

Rob, what happens when this kind of topic is discussed in the meetings with businesses in Negril and their government counterparts??? Do they have any kind of plan, short or long term to address this reality??

Thanks,
johng