Acapulco, Mexico – Travelling abroad is a great way to spend the best years of your life. Every year thousands of senior retired citizens travel south to escape the cold winter weather in the USA and Canada. Statistics sadly enough show that senior citizens are more likely to get sick or injured while travelling.
Let´s take a look at common causes for (elderly) people needing our air ambulance service.
Respiratory Failure
Respiratory failure is a syndrome in which the respiratory system fails in one or both of its gas exchange functions. Examples of respiratory failure are cardiogenic or noncardiogenic pulmonary edema, pneumonia, and pulmonary hemorrhage.
It frequently occurs that we transport a patient diagnosed with pneumonia. Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung. It is considered a common illness which can occur in all age groups. It is however a leading cause of death amongst the elderly and people who are chronically and terminally ill.
Heart Problems
Heart problems such as heart failure are a common reason for an air ambulance transport. Heart failure is generally defined as inability of the heart to supply sufficient blood flow to meet the body’s needs. It has various diagnostic criteria, and the term heart failure is often incorrectly used to describe other cardiac-related illnesses, such as heart attack or cardiac arrest.
People that have suffered a heart attack while on vacation need medical evacuation. Most heart attacks happen when a clot in the coronary artery blocks the supply of blood and oxygen to the heart. Often this leads to an irregular heartbeat that causes a severe decrease in the pumping function of the heart. A blockage that is not treated within a few hours causes the affected heart muscle to die.
Head Injury
A head injury is any trauma that leads to injury of the scalp, skull, or brain. The injuries can range from a minor bump on the skull to serious brain injury. Below you can find information about brain hemorrhage, a trauma that we frequently encounter at Jet Rescue Air Ambulance.
Brain Hemorrhage is a condition caused by a sudden stroke to a person after blood leaks out from the blood vessels in the brain. This situation occurs due to the break in the wall of blood vessel, the blood spills out of the blood vessel and enters the area where vital tissues and cells of brain reside, killing those tissues and cells; this causes the patient to become seriously ill and needs immediate medication and/or treatment.
Cranial Base Fracture
A skull fracture is a break in one or more of the bones in the skull usually occurring as a result of blunt force trauma. If the force of the impact is excessive the bone may fracture at or near the site of the impact. The force of direct impact may cause damage to the underlying physical structures contained within the skull such as the membranes, blood vessels, and brain, even in the absence of a fracture.
Going on vacation is great and the chances that something will happen to you are really small. However that is not a guarantee that an accident won´t happen to you. As always we stress that you take preventative measures before you go on vacation;
– Get a travel insurance that covers medical cost & evacuation.
– Ask your insurance company if there is a manual with standard procedures in case of emergencies such as an accident/illness.
– Always have our 24h emergency phone number on you. 01-800-681-1504 toll free from Mexico
Jet Rescue - Worldwide Air Ambulance Service 