Nicaragua Travel: Basic & ER Medical Care
Nicaraguan healthcare is not up to par with North American or European facilities. Managua is about the only place that can treat emergency medical cases. Many towns have physicians and essential care, but if an emergency occurs, patients must be brought to the capital. There are large hospitals in every major parts of the country.
When an emergency occurs, the patient is to get to the nearest facility that will admit patients. This is usually a public hospital, where circumstances are dreadful and treatment regimens are nearly non-existent. Private hospitals are more sanitary and provide a little better care, but almost all of them work on a cash-only basis, and you will not be brought to one unless you can verify that you, or someone with you,can give cash. Credit cards are not a suitable method of compensation practically anyplace for emergency services.
Tourists traveling to Nicaragua are counseled to be current with all of the vaccinations, especially Hepatitis A and B, typhoid, and rabies. Most current medicines are not yet offered in Nicaragua, so if you are taking prescription medicine be sure you have extra to hold you during your visit in the nation. If you travel to the east coast, be sure to take an anti-malaria medicine both before and after your vacation to avoid contracting the illness.
Finally, don't assume your medical insurance plan will include care in a foreign nation ; most will not. Check with your policy holder before you depart, and make sure that your insurance is valid while you are outside the US. Also validate that it will include emergency medical procedures, transportation, and evacuation. If not, get a supplemental plan before you depart.
(Back to Articles)
viewed: 4019
|
|
|
|
