QCOSTARICA – Suffering a medical emergency, whether it be something from a sickness right to triple bypass surgery, if you don’t have insurance, you could be looking at an exorbitant cost
Pretty scary. Especially when you are unable to return home. Such was the situation for a man from Ontario, Canada, who was stranded in Costa Rica due to a shortage of available hospital beds.
Globalnews.ca reports Emma Rice and her father Grant are finally both back in Ontario after the 69-year-old was put on a ventilator earlier this month — an experience that she describes as “pretty scary” for both of them.
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She previously told Global News that she flew out to Costa Rica on April 9th after learning her father, while on vacation in Costa Rica, became ill, and diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, sometimes known as GBS, which is a rare but serious autoimmune disorder.
After spending the next few weeks in a San Jose hospital room, Grant was finally stable enough to return to Ontario on a medical evacuation flight. However, insurance or a flight weren’t the issue, but finding an available hospital bed in Ontario was.
Martin Firestone, a travel insurance broker in Toronto and president of Travel Secure Inc., explained to Global News that if someone falls ill while on vacation and the doctors in this location advise returning to their home quickly, there are options for air evacuation. However, the key is that they must have a bed available in a local hospital.
“The bottom line is it’s very difficult to get beds this day and age. But the air evacuation will not just bring you to the airport and leave you…there has to be a hospital to take you to,” Firestone told Global News.
Will McAleer, the executive director of the Travel Health Insurance Association of Canada, explained hospitals do not permit air ambulances to arrive unannounced without a prearranged bed.
Fortunately, following the news of Grant’s situation, multiple hospitals extended offers for assistance, resulting in an available bed in Ottawa. Shortly thereafter, a medical evacuation flight was on its way.
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Related: No room at the hospital: Ontario man waits in Costa Rica
“When those air ambulance folks walked into the hospital room and gave me a hug, it was probably the most relieving moment of my life,” Emma said.
Grant is now recovering at Ottawa Civic Hospital, facing a long road to recovery ahead.
As Global News reports, unfortunately, Grant’s case isn’t unique in Canada — Canadians traveling can face stressful, lengthy waits to access hospitals back home.
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Firestone says to always remember to get sufficient travel insurance, “Travel insurance is so important…your Ontario government health insurance plan covers you for very little on any potential claim you may have.”
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