Traveling with Medicine and Equipment

If you rely on any type of medical equipment (wheelchairs, inhalers, oxygen tanks, etc.), you’ll need to make advanced preparations for your travel.  This includes making certain that all of your equipment is properly serviced before boarding the plane.  Equally important, you must have contingency plans in the event that your equipment breaks down when you are abroad.   

Be sure that you have satisfactory answers to the following questions: 

• Are all the parts in good working order?

• Do you have enough spare parts in case something breaks down?

• Do you have easy access to the owner’s manuals? 

• Are these manuals in a language that you can understand?

• If something does break, will you know how to fix it?

• If you don’t know how to fix it, will there be service providers in the medical tourism destination you plan to visit?

• If your equipment breaks down completely, is this critical to your survival or is it just a nuisance?

• If this equipment is critical, can you buy a new placement?

• If no replacements are available, do you have an evacuation plan? 

• Do you have the necessary batteries, chargers, and adapters to make sure that any electronic medical equipment can continue to run properly?  Be sure to check this online guide for voltage regulations and adapter recommendations.