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+--- Thread: Traveller Medical Insurance (/showthread.php?tid=101412)
Traveller Medical Insurance - Sharleen - 05-06-2016
This is cut and pasted from trip advisor, a link provided on whaagwanin Negril? message board -- medical travellers insurance will be a must for me from now on! Sorry about the double line posting, I'm not sure how to fix it. I thought some of you might find this couples experience get you to think about purchasing medical insurance. I still don't understand it -- so if you buy medical insurance you have to give the upfront $$ to be airlifted out and then get reimbursed? But what if you don't have a credit card with that much allowance on it??
Be SUPER careful about jumping Cliffs in Negril.
Here is a passage from latest Xtabi review on T.A.:
“Thankful for the staff at Xtabi!”
5 of 5 stars
Reviewed yesterday
NEW
My husband and I were due to stay at Xtabi April 9th - 16th, but our trip was cut short when my husband experienced a medical emergency on April 13th. Long story short, he was injured while cliff jumping. Listen to the warnings, do NOT jump from the cliffs. On April 12th my husband did some cliff jumping and seemed ok afterward, he didn't his head but around 3am on April 13th my husband woke up having a severe headache, he then began bleeding from his nose and we noticed blood on the pillow, he was also bleeding from his ear. Then his eye began to swell rapidly. I immediately went to look for help. My only complaint about Xtabi is that they close down around 11pm and there are no employees to be found until about 7am. I had no idea what to do, so I left my husband in bed while I frantically searched for help. Finally, I found an employee who went and got the boss Dave. He called a cab for us so we could go to the nearest hospital. There were no cabs out and about that early. After nearly 12 hours of hell at a nearby public hospital, we found out my husband had a basal skull fracture, bleeding in his brain, contusions on his brain and a fracture in his left orbital area. We were then transferred to Montego Bay hospital. He stayed the night there and the next day we were both airlifted back to the states so he could receive appropriate medical care. I won't go into details regarding the hospitals in Jamaica, but I have one word, AWFUL.
Moving on, we left all of our belongings at Xtabi. There was no time to pack or grab anything, the only items I grabbed when we left for the hospital were our passports and wallets. I had a feeling we would not be coming back so I grabbed what we needed to get back to the U.S. Dave from Xtabi stayed in touch with me during this process and was generous enough to offer to pack our belongings personally and contact FedEx to have them shipped back to the states. I was concerned our valuables like my husband's apple watch, our sunglasses, go pro, jewelry etc. would not make it back BUT it all did. My husband was kept in a hospital in Florida for a week before we returned home to Maryland. When we arrived our luggage was boxed and waiting by our door. We were so happy and relieved! My husband is still recovering, but on the positive side he is expected to make a full recovery.
On to the hotel itself. We had no issues. The food was good, the drinks were great and the prices were fair. The service was a bit slow at times, but that's pretty much everywhere in Jamaica, you're on island time. There is some decent snorkeling near the cliffs at Xtabi and you're within walking distance to other great restaurants. The room was a bit dated, but it was clean. Besides, given how affordable the resort was I didn't expect a five star room. We stayed in a garden side superior room. The sunsets there are beautiful! I would return, although it will probably take us some time to brave Jamaica again after our experience, which is not Xtabi's fault.
Just a piece of advice. Buy travel insurance! If you're from the U.S. and you go to a hospital in Jamaica, just remember you're in a third world country. There is MINIMAL technology. You're going to want to be airlifted back to the U.S. if you find yourself having an emergency and it's not cheap. We paid $16K to be flow back to the U.S. on an air ambulance and they require payment upfront. Now we have to wait to be reimbursed by our insurance. We love Jamaica, but their medical care is seriously lacking so just be prepared if you have to go to a hospital. I would also suggest knowing where the nearest hospital is, it's not something I ever considered looking into since m husband and I are in our 20s and 30s and are healthy.
I am just glad Xtabi was so helpful in the situation and took one of our worries away by sending our belongings back!