by starkmonster » Mon Nov 20, 2017 6:38 am
I think a few things need to be said on this thread, because I think we create a lot of problems ourselves during medical emergencies here through our misconceptions.
Number one, if it's a true medical emergency, you aren't going to Bangkok, get that idea out of your head straight away.
Medivacs take days to organize, plus even if you did luck out and one was on the tarmac at Ponchentong, a medivac will not fly anyone in a critical condition, and they likely won't fly anyone who is stable but poses a risk of becoming critical.
I've been medivaced, it took 10 days from the time of the accident to arrive in Bangkok, and that was paying cash and only broken bones!
So accept the fact that the steps between the onset of the medical emergency and either stabilization or death are going to happen in Cambodia. So you want to make sure you have a plan in place and that the people around you know what that plan is.
Second, money talks. Forget public medicine, it doesn't exist here and you are at best only going to get the best medical treatment that you can afford, or the hospital thinks you can afford, nothing more.
Feel free to setup a trust fund for the financially challenged of Cambodia in medical emergencies once you've recovered.
Once you are in your first choice hospital, don't become an armchair medical expert and start challenging every move the doctor makes with snippets you found on WebMD. You wouldn't do that to a doctor at home, why do it here?
If you think something isn't right, take all the results to another hospital to consult with another doctor for a second opinion.
If the doctor says you need a CT scan, or some expensive blood work done, just do it. The diagnosis will likely only be as good as the diagnostics.
So many expats die here from conditions that would have been exposed by simple but expensive tests such as mri/ct scans or thorough blood work. And my personal experience is that expats are far more reluctant to agree to such expensive tests than doctors are to recommend them.
I think a few things need to be said on this thread, because I think we create a lot of problems ourselves during medical emergencies here through our misconceptions.
Number one, if it's a true medical emergency, you aren't going to Bangkok, get that idea out of your head straight away.
Medivacs take days to organize, plus even if you did luck out and one was on the tarmac at Ponchentong, a medivac will not fly anyone in a critical condition, and they likely won't fly anyone who is stable but poses a risk of becoming critical.
I've been medivaced, it took 10 days from the time of the accident to arrive in Bangkok, and that was paying cash and only broken bones!
So accept the fact that the steps between the onset of the medical emergency and either stabilization or death are going to happen in Cambodia. So you want to make sure you have a plan in place and that the people around you know what that plan is.
Second, money talks. Forget public medicine, it doesn't exist here and you are at best only going to get the best medical treatment that you can afford, or the hospital thinks you can afford, nothing more.
Feel free to setup a trust fund for the financially challenged of Cambodia in medical emergencies once you've recovered.
Once you are in your first choice hospital, don't become an armchair medical expert and start challenging every move the doctor makes with snippets you found on WebMD. You wouldn't do that to a doctor at home, why do it here?
If you think something isn't right, take all the results to another hospital to consult with another doctor for a second opinion.
If the doctor says you need a CT scan, or some expensive blood work done, just do it. The diagnosis will likely only be as good as the diagnostics.
So many expats die here from conditions that would have been exposed by simple but expensive tests such as mri/ct scans or thorough blood work. And my personal experience is that expats are far more reluctant to agree to such expensive tests than doctors are to recommend them.
