The best way to be prepared for an emergency while traveling in the USA is to ensure that a possible emergency is included in your travel plans well before your trip. Even though the last thing you want is an emergency during your trip, the possibility of having to go through one must be part of your plans.
1) PURCHASE TRAVEL HEALTH INSURANCE
Long before you leave for your trip, look into travel health insurance and what your options are. You will need to make sure that you get all the coverage you think you will need, as well as a couple of other options that will be useful should you run into any emergency you can possibly think of.
If you have pre-existing health conditions, make sure you look into whether or not those will be covered, as well. You should also look into having to pay expenses out of pocket and whether or not you will have to submit a claim for reimbursement when you return from your trip.
This is especially important to have if you are traveling by yourself. Should anything happen to you, you need to make sure that you get in touch with your travel insurance provider as soon as possible to let them know.
2) LOCATING EMERGENCY DENTAL SERVICES IN THE USA
Trying to find an emergency dentist in the USA if you are unfamiliar with the country and how emergency dentistry works there can be a nightmare. Depending on the time of day, you may have to wait hours, even days, to find an emergency dentist to help you.
However, there are a couple of options you can go through to help you find an emergency, such as Emergency Dentists USA, a 24-hour emergency dentist referral network who connects those in need of urgent care with emergency dentists all across the USA.
3) KNOWING WHERE YOUR COUNTRY’S EMBASSY IS LOCATED
At this time of writing, the USA currently has approximately 178 physical embassies located across the country.
If any type of accident, disaster, or emergency, in general, occurs, such as losing your passport or important travel documents, you need to know where your country’s embassy is and have their phone number on you at all times.
For more information on the embassies in the USA, you can visit the Foreign Embassies in the United States. Knowing where your country’s embassy is located is something that should always go into your travel plans when traveling to the US. This information can save your life.
4) KNOWING EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS
Make sure you look up the local emergency phone numbers of the state you are traveling to before you go to the USA. 911 can forward your call to a local emergency number, but knowing the exact numbers before you leave will save time.
5) MAKE SURE SOMEONE KNOWS WHERE YOU ARE
Ensuring that someone knows where you’re going is a staple with traveling to a different country. Make sure you let someone in your life know where you’re going, how long you’re going for, the day you’re coming back, and give them the information for where you’ll be staying.
Keeping in contact with loved ones back home on a regular schedule will also help them keep track of you. For example, if you call them every other day at a certain time and they haven’t heard from you in a couple of days, they will know that something is wrong and will be able to ring alarm bells from their end.
6) RESEARCH WHERE YOU CAN GET HELP
Make sure you know where local clinics and hospitals are before you leave. This will give you peace of mind knowing you know exactly where you need to go if you have an emergency and can get there on your own.
7) PLAN FOR ADDITIONAL EXPENSES
If you aren’t able to purchase travel insurance for whatever reason, make sure you have planned for extra expenses that may or may not come up during your trip. It’s better to plan for extra expenses and have to dish out the cash for them instead of not having that extra money with you and need it.
8) KEEP IDENTIFICATION ON YOU
Even if it’s just a piece of paper kept in your wallet, make sure someone will be able to identify you based on personal information you have on you in the case of an emergency. Your name, where you’re from, and an emergency contact is extremely important to have on you when traveling to a different country. First responders will use this information to contact whoever you have as your emergency contact in the case of an emergency so someone back home will know what happened to you and where you are. You can also store this information under the “Emergency” section in your phone which can be used to locate your family if necessary.
9) HAVE AN EMERGENCY KIT WITH YOU
An emergency kit could be something that you keep on your person or in a rental car at all times. It could include a first aid kit, road flares, warm clothing, snacks, and water bottles, for example. You never know what could happen while traveling in the USA, but having an emergency kit is the best way to be prepared and have enough resources to help you last for however long until help can get to you.
10) RESEARCH THE AREA AND BE WARY OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS
There is nothing wrong with constantly looking over your shoulder while you are traveling to make sure that you are okay. Researching the area that you will be traveling in when you visit the USA will give you a better idea of crime rates, what you can expect, and much more. This is something you should do when traveling anywhere in the world, in general.
TAKING THE NECESSARY STEPS FOR ANY EMERGENCY
Making sure you have the proper travel insurance, knowing where to find emergency dental help, and knowing where your country’s embassy is in the USA are key factors that must be taken into consideration when traveling to the United States.
What do you do to plan for emergency situations? Please share your own tips with our readers in the comments below.
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By We Are Travel Girls Contributor Katherine McKay of EmergencyDentistsUSA.com
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