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How To Manage An Emergency On Vacation

Quickbooks

Taking a vacation has always been a good idea. It’s a way to escape the stress of your everyday life and renew your spirit. It’s a time to refresh your mind, relax your body, and enjoy yourself. In a calm and soothing environment, you can let go of many of the problems that have been bothering you. You also get to spend quality time with family and friends.

Still, sometimes things can go wrong, and though you can’t predict an accident, you can mentally rehearse what to do in some common worst case scenarios.

Three common crises during a vacation are running out of money, someone gets sick, or your car breaking down. Let’s take a look at what you can do in each situation.

You Run Out of Money

Completely running out of money is a nightmare.

The first thing to understand is that when you’re out of money, it doesn’t mean you’re broke. When you are broke, you don’t have any money available to you from any source. Your situation is different—you are temporarily unable to access the money you have at home or in your bank account. For instance, if you got robbed or your ATM card was electronically compromised, you are out of money, but you aren’t broke. You may actually have thousands of dollars – but you just can’t get your hands on any of it.

If you’ve bought travelers checks, you can get them replaced so long as you’ve followed the check issuer’s purchase agreement. Another option is to call home and get someone to wire you the money that you need through Western Union. If, for some reason, neither of these options is available to you, an online payday loan alternative might be your best option. These types of loans, unlike bank loans, are fairly straightforward. First, fill out an online application form. Once it gets approved, eSign your loan documents. Usually, you will talk to a customer service representative to verify all your information. Requirements to be eligible for a loan are basic: You have to have a verifiable income source, an open checking account, be at least 18 years old, be a United States citizen and not be a debtor in a bankruptcy case.

Your Car Breaks Down

If you are driving to your vacation or driving while you are on vacation in your own car and it breaks down, here are some safety precautions you should take:

  1. Coast along the shoulder of the road to get out of the way of any curves behind you. This prevents drivers who can’t see you from speeding around the corner and running into you.
  2. If you can’t coast along the shoulder because your engine died completely, only get out of the car if you are not on a busy road. While it’s unnerving sitting in a car with traffic behind you, it’s even worse jumping out of the car and getting run over.
  3. Put on your emergency flash signals. If these don’t work, hang a white cloth out of your window, securing it by rolling the window back up. If you don’t have a white cloth, then use a white paper. If you don’t have either, then hang out any cloth that you can.
  4. Use your cell phone to call for emergency roadside assistance or the highway patrol. If your phone battery is dead, then get out of the car and look for an emergency call box or service station (but only if it’s safe enough to get to the other side of the road in one piece.) If it’s not, wait for highway patrol.

You Get Sick

If you or someone with you gets sick, you can get emergency medical help from the staff of the hotel. Most places have employees who have been trained to help patrons in an emergency. They know how to do medical emergencies like CPR. In many cases, there is a hotel doctor on call, too. If you have an emergency in the middle of the night, call for help immediately—and most hotels make it easy to get help anytime you need it. The sooner you get help, the better. Don’t wait to see if the pain or nausea eases up. Getting immediate help from the hotel will prevent things from escalating before the ambulance gets there. Usually hotel staff works in teams. One staff member might provide CPR, a second one might calm down the panicked family, and a third might handle the emergency response, call the nearest hospital and describe the location.

While you can’t anticipate an emergency, you can prepare in advance if you have any health problems. For instance, if you are susceptible for food allergies, you should travel with your medication. If you have a pre-existing problem, wear a medical alert bracelet. If you are not in a position to talk to your doctor – perhaps, you’re travelling in a foreign country – then have all your medical and insurance information with you.

Prepare Before You Leave

When making your vacation plans, be sure to include the steps you could take in some common emergencies. The best time to think calmly and research what you need to do is before leaving home. Preparation can include getting traveler’s checks, getting roadside emergency, or taking your medications and medical information with you.

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