In Action: Medical Repatriation from China

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Distance from home:
 7,186 miles
Services Provided: Medical Monitoring, Medical Repatriation, & Interpreter Referral

​A member, Yang*, traveled from China for a two-year study abroad program in the United States. When she was 15 years old, Yang was diagnosed with a rare muscle inflammatory disease which was under control thanks to daily medication. A few months into her studies in the U.S., she started having unusual episodes of generalized weakness, fatigue and respiratory distress. After an alarming episode, her boyfriend was able to take her to the hospital where she had to be intubated. Doctors began a series of exams to identify the trigger of her episodes.

After a few weeks, Global Travel Plus was contacted by the hospital’s discharge department to initiate the repatriation process. Global Travel Plus coordinators first assessed Yang’s condition and care by contacting the medical team who was working on her case. The local treating team suspected the patient had a neuromuscular disease for which she needed to receive specialized and continuous care. With such diagnostic in mind, the local treating doctors and the Global Travel Plus medical team decided Yang should go back to China to receive long-term, specialized care and have the support of her family.

Prior to transporting Yang, Global Travel Plus coordinators explained the repatriation process to Yang’s mother by using a Mandarin interpreter. Coordinators arranged for Yang to be transported from the hospital to the airport via ground ambulance. At the airport, she boarded a non-stop commercial flight to Beijing with medical stretcher. Once in Beijing, a ground ambulance transported her to the neurological rehabilitation center. She was accompanied by a flight nurse and a paramedic who monitored her condition and oxygen levels during the entire journey.

Thanks to Global Travel Plus, Yang and her family were able to focus on her condition and treatment without having to arrange such complex and costly transport logistics.
 
Posted: 8/17/2018 10:00:00 AM