Calling international rescue

By JIM EAGLES

Your worst nightmare has come true. You've taken the hubbie and kids for a holiday in exotic Molvania and on the way from the airport the crazy taxi driver with stainless steel teeth has driven his ancient Lada into a bus loaded with holidaying clog dancers.

Hubbie is immobilised with broken ribs and a punctured lung, the three kids all have nasty cuts and bruises, and your ankle is so badly sprained you can barely get around on crutches.

The medical facilities are non-existent, no one speaks English, people with large moustaches keep shouting and waving their hands, and amid the excitement some enterprising Molvanian has liberated your passports, credit cards, travellers cheques and nearly all your cash.

Who ya gonna call?

Chances are your cry for help will go to a company called First Assistance which, even though you've probably never heard of them, look after about 70 per cent of New Zealanders who take out travel insurance.

They receive between 100 and 200 calls a week to their call centre in Ellerslie from Kiwis who have become sick, had an accident, had their belongings stolen or been forced to curtail travel plans.

The panic-struck cry for help from Molvania will be answered by one of a team of specially trained nurses who staff the international toll-free emergency numbers for most of the big travel insurance companies around the clock every day of the year.

They will talk you quietly through the problem, find out exactly what is wrong, check on your insurance cover and get a rescue plan into action.

Ten years ago, when First Assistance started, the assistance industry was "fairly immature", says managing director Murray Berkett. "If you were overseas and got into trouble and you had travel insurance then they might pay your costs but you pretty much had to organise it.

"But today you have toll-free numbers worldwide and once you've been in touch you're pretty much taken care of."

In that 10 years the company has expanded its staff from six to 74, with links into just about every corner of the globe.

Backing up the nurses who are on the frontline in the call centre are six doctors who give medical advice, read medical reports, liaise with doctors overseas and advise on what needs to be done.

Behind them, says Berkett, is "a huge independent network of doctors, agents, medical clinics and hospitals in most parts of the world, not places we own, but which we've checked out". First Assistance also has access to interpretation services and can probably even find someone who speaks Molvanian.

"Most often we can find an English-speaker when we call overseas," explains sales and marketing manager Mary-Jo McDonald, "but we need to have an interpreter as a back-up to ensure there has been no misunderstanding and we also use them to translate medical reports and police reports.

"Our phone system allows us to conference-call everybody involved - maybe our doctors, the treating doctor, an interpreter, and perhaps one of our nurses as well, to stay in touch with what's happening and discuss the case."

Most of the calls received from travellers involve medical problems, and the first advice is always to go to a local clinic for an assessment, says Berkett.

"Then we follow through with that clinic to check with the treating doctor, get a determination on the injury and the form of treatment, and we would then look at whether we need to take further action or whether we can leave you there.

"There are still areas where things are pretty sparse but most places we could offer advice and get you to a facility of some sort.

"If there is a problem, if there is a risk or uncertainty about ongoing treatment, then we look at where the nearest suitable treatment facility is, is it in this country?"

If there is a problem and a patient has to be moved - perhaps because the clinic in Molvania is substandard - the company has access to ambulances and it can usually put passengers on commercial airlines "but if that doesn't work then it'll be a dedicated air ambulance, or maybe even a helicopter, and we have them on our books as well".

That sort of thing isn't common, but First Assistance arranges about 100 evacuations and repatriations a year.

In most places the company and its agents can handle things but, says McDonald, "if we're stretched for some reason then we'll work with another assistance company with expertise in that part of the world, and vice versa. We look after a lot of cases in this part of the world for other assistance companies."

As well as providing medical assistance, the company is also called on to help with problems such as re-ticketing, lost passports, lost money or accommodation difficulties.

McDonald says that usually requires just as much reassurance from the emergency line operator as a major medical emergency. "A person who has lost their binoculars is often just as stressed as someone who has just broken their ankle."

So what can they do about that poor family in Molvania who have been cleaned out?

"If someone has been robbed," says McDonald, "we can get in touch with the embassy and help them to get a replacement passport. We can arrange for funds to be delivered to the local Western Union office and give them a number so they can go and pick up the funds. If we need to we can pay for their accommodation. We can help them to cancel their credit cards."

The kind of assistance provided often varies considerably depending on the personal circumstances of the client and, says McDonald, "sorting that out means asking a lot of probing questions at the outset.

"For instance, they may be travelling with someone who is reliant on them. We had a lady who was travelling and broke her hip and then we discovered she was travelling with her husband who was elderly and she was responsible for pushing him around in a wheelchair. With her out of action he was obviously at risk as well so we had to look at things in a different way."

When that sort of situation arises, she says, "there is a variety of things that may have to be done. We may have to send over a family member to work with you or to bring you back. Depends where you are, whether you have friends over there, where you are staying, whether you want to continue travelling, what the medical recommendations are."

Of course, the level of assistance also depends on the insurance cover. "That isn't often a problem," says Berkett, "because most insurance policies these days are well worked out. There really isn't a lot that's not covered.

"But it does happen, of course, and when it does we will still assist a person but they have to pay their own expenses. It's a hard one though because it can be a lot of money they're up for."

Needless to say the people at First Assistance are firm believers in travel insurance.

Berkett says in disbelief that there are "still people who travel outside New Zealand without cover. That's crazy. Even going to Australia without insurance can be a dicey move."

Certainly anyone who goes to Molvania without cover is just asking for trouble.