When Fear in Mexico is Real

[moisheh]

There are so many posts about crime and safety in Mexico that are just a waste of bandwidth. The following is something that most of us never consider. We are back in Canada. Although we live in the country I spend 3 days a week in a rented Condo in the city. I awoke Thursday am and did not feel "right". But like a typical guy I just wrote it off to being indigestion. I sat there for about 10 minutes and then quickly drove the 5 minutes to a hospital. In seconds I was hooked up to an EKG machine. An ambulance was waiting to take me to another hospital with a Cath Lab. I was given Nitro and some other meds. The ambulance was state of the art with constant communication to the lab via telemetry. Another 5 minute ride and I was on the table. Multiple blockages. Once stabilized stents were inserted. Although I am a huge critic of our Canadian Socialized Medical System I had to eat my words. The Drs., Nurses and Paramedics were amazing. I was released on Saturday but will have to return in a few weeks for additional stents. I am not supposed to be doing any work: Mental or physical but I am going to try some office work for maybe an hour a day. This morning I started to think about how this would have transpired if I was still in Kino. We are fortunate to have a lot of retired firefighters and paramedics in Kino. There is a first responders group but at this time of the year most are NOB. Cruz Roja has an ambulance. One of those Sprinter Vans. Equipped with NADA! The oxygen tanks are usually empty. The battery in the ambulance is usually dead( or has been stolen) and often there is no fuel. The attendants do their best but the training is minimal. The drive to a hospital in Hermosillo is one hour plus. Unless something has changed there are no EKG machines in Kino. I probably would have died or suffered a massive heart attack/stroke. Everyone should assess the emergency facilities in your Mexican community. Larger centres like Maz or PV may not have state of the art equipment but they can handle this type of emergency. Smaller communities may have nothing. In Canada and the USA small communities may not have the latest and greatest but they have ambulances with all that is needed to safely get you to a proper facility. Remote areas are covered with air ambulances. Being as most forum members are of an age where heart problems are not unusual everyone should find out what happens in an emergency. Who do you call? Where will they take you? Is the ambulance always ready to go? Is it equipped? Are the attendants trained? Your life may depend on the answers. Please excuse some of my technical terms. This is all new to me.

Moisheh

[Barbilou_and_Fu]

Holy guacamole, Marvin! SO glad you're OK, and I get everything you're saying. So many down here don't have the radio contact, local phone service, AED available, nada. Don't even know where CIMA is. I've seen the Kino clinica up close and personal: I once had to personally run to the farmacia from there to purchase IV tubing/needle for a friend before he could get a much-needed infusion of fluids.

We do have an AED and oxygen in Dos Palmas (on my screen porch, actually), as well as people that know what to do. But defibrillation won't fix blocked coronary arteries. You are so right that your outcome may have been different in Kino.

[silversand]

Big Hat wrote:
n in-flight heart attack on the way to Hawaii or Europe could happen.

...if we should be so lucky to have a dire medical emergency on a commercial flight!

"If you're mid-flight and you're having a medical emergency, don't fret: Chances are there's another passenger or a flight attendant who will be able to take care of you, according to a new study."

"A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on May 30 found that in more than three-fourths of medical incidents on airplanes, there was a doctor, nurse or other medical professional that was able to help." (CBS News, 2013)

Flight attendants are incredibly well trained in myriad health emergency procedures (and have quite an array of medical equipment on-board)...they can get to you in literally seconds. Same for trains, and cruise ships/long-haul ferries.

[bighatnohorse]

moisheh wrote:
bighatnohorse: You are not the first non thinker. . .

Moisheh

Nice one.


The truth hurts, eh? Sorry 'bout that.

[moisheh]

bighatnohorse: You are not the first non thinker to post that nonsense about camping at the Mayo. Do you go through life tossing caution to the wind? Of course one cannot have a physician at your side 24/7 but your comments show a complete lack of common sense. For many it is not just the possibility of having a serious illness. It is having the insurance to pay for any procedures. There are many Canadians who cannot get travel insurance due to health complications. If they travel without insurance who will pay for an expensive operation? Would you like to lose your house , bank account and that 15 Ford Dually? Would you like to leave your wife a pauper.? I consider all of this a serious matter and that BS about the Mayo makes light of something that requires some real thought. Not a bunch of trite sayings like don't worry be happy. I am going to be OK and will travel as always but I will also consider that one more event would change everything. I now understand why some Canadians are forced to stay home.

Moisheh

[bighatnohorse]

That's the nature of travel.
An in-flight heart attack on the way to Hawaii or Europe could happen.
So what? Camp in the Mayo clinic parking lot?

[navegator]

Tourist areas have a lot of "clinicas" that cater to the vanity of the turista, when you need real medical treatment go to a hospital, same spelling in Spanish, some clinicas are good others are not, it is hard to know which one to use.

Before you need one, inquire with the RV owner and or the folks that you interact in town, ask them "if you need medical treatment, where would you go?"

Same as asking for a good place to have dinner.

navegator

[moisheh]

Thanks profdant: I wouldn't let my condition change any plans we have for Mexico but it certainly has caused me think about emergencies in a new light. I have been ill in Mexico many times but never anything serious. I can think of many places we have visited with 3rd world facilities and in some cases these facilities are not close by. There are lots of horror stories of tourists in Mexico who have encountered expensive hospitals that are almost "fake". Mazatlan is famous for these quack clinics. It's one thing to have some facility set your broken leg and it is not done right. Playing with my heart is just a little more serious. I never intended to scare anyone . I was just bringing to light that travelers should consider the availability of medical care.

Moisheh

[moisheh]

Thanks profdant: I wouldn't let my condition change any plans we have for Mexico but it certainly has caused me think about emergencies in a new light. I have been ill in Mexico many times but never anything serious. I can think of many places we have visited with 3rd world facilities and in some cases these facilities are not close by. There are lots of horror stories of tourists in Mexico who have encountered expensive hospitals that are almost "fake". Mazatlan is famous for these quack clinics. It's one thing to have some facility set your broken leg and it is not done right. Playing with my heart is just a little more serious. I never intended to scare anyone . I was just bringing to light that travelers should consider the availability of medical care.

Moisheh

[profdant139]

Moisheh, I am glad to hear that you are ok! The issue you raise is significant -- this is something we take into consideration when we are boondocking in remote parts of the Western US, an hour by rough road from a cell signal. A serious injury or a heart attack or a stroke could be very inconvenient -- at age 63, this is a risk that I take, but I do not take it lightly.

We try to prepare for almost everything, but some risks can't be eliminated.

[Almot]

I don't think there is any real answer to the Moisheh question (if there was a question). Other than camping in a Mayo Hospital parking lot. In other words - you have to be 15-20 minutes from a hospital. This would severely limit your choice of places for snowbirding or expat living, and the price point, or congestion, or other cons will make it meaningless for many of us.

"Traveling" to foreign 3rd world country is not the same as living there. Insurance companies know this well, there are zillions of plans for trips up to 30-60 days. For 6-12 months there is less, and at the age of 70-75 there is almost nothing, or it costs several thousand a year, or doesn't cover nothing.

Singapore and Thailand have good hospitals in big cities only, and the roads are poor. Dying at 75 while climbing the mountain is fine. Getting crippled for the rest of your life by not getting a TIMELY help with stroke, heart attack, food poisoning - is a different thing.

You pays yer money and you takes yer chance.

[4X4Dodger]

I think the real lesson here is this: Be sure you are healthy enough to travel to a foreign country. Many, like Thailand and Singapore have excellent healthcare systems that rival or exceed our own. Some Like Mexico can have a varied mixture of some very excellent hospitals and some that are not good at all.

Get a thorough checkup before you go.

But dont be afraid to go. For my part I would rather die hiking the Himalyas at 75 than sitting in my recliner afraid to go to Mexico...

[qtla9111]

moisheh wrote:
Chris: Why do you have to use IMSS. I thought teachers used the Gov. employees system ISSTE?

Moisheh

I've always been an independent contractor. Most of my work is in school consulting including the state education departments throughout Mexico. We had a language institute for 15 years and sold that in 2009. If I have a year contract with a private school they continue the IMSS and when I am on my own take Modulo 40, which is for independent contractors. It all goes to the same account for my medical, Infonavit, and pension. My SO is part of ISSTELeon.

[Almot]

The closest hospital in my area in Baja is 3 hours away. It is IMSS and it is a joke. Public hospital in Ensenada or Tijuana, with all their flaws, is still better, but it's way too far.

From what I read, IMSS is now having more problems than Seguro Popular (= public hospitals). Besides, IMSS is mostly for Mex companies employees. Retiree gringos manage to sneak in at times, but technically, they are entitled to only some of the services.

[moisheh]

The rural clinics are nothing like Chris describes. You get an appointment for a specific day. Not a time. If by 3 pm you are still there you have to come back the next day. By the middle of the month they run out of many meds. BUT a little mordida and they magically appear. The IMSS does have some specialty hospitals where they do some state of the art procedures. However the wait lists are long. Chris: Why do you have to use IMSS. I thought teachers used the Gov. employees system ISSTE?

Moisheh