Are you going on vacation to warm countries and are you afraid that you have forgotten something important? If you are planning an exotic trip, add a follow-up visit to the preparation schedule. A specialist will help you prepare a first aid kit for a holiday in a specific country. If you are taking your child on a trip - consult your pediatrician before departure.

Duringexotic travelswe want to rest, see as much as possible, meet interesting places, new people and foreign cultures. It happens that tourists ignore warnings about the risk of malaria or other exotic diseases. After all, we do not go away to get sick, so before we leave, we do not think about the real threats related to our he alth. And yet, preventive he althcare should be a natural behavior before departure. When planning a trip, we should remember about our he alth and safety, and do everything possible to protect ourselves from serious diseases. Thanks to this, trips - both close and exotic - will become just a pleasure.

Medical consultation before going abroad

The first thing we should do is go to the travel medicine doctor and provide him with information about our departure:

  • individual or organized trip;
  • travel and residence conditions;
  • travel route, means of transport;
  • duration;
  • determination of the degree of difficulty (when hiking, long sections to be explored on foot);
  • threats and requirements that we know about.

It is also necessary to inform about all circumstances related to our he alth, especially about past or current diseases, medications taken, vaccinations and preventive treatments (especially against malaria), allergies. It is worth writing down all this information so that you do not forget about something in the doctor's office. The next step is to assess your current he alth condition. This assessment can be quite simple, but it may also require additional tests (e.g. radiographs or laboratory tests). A visit to a doctor is of particular importance if we suffer from chronic diseases. One has to ask if they will not tighten up during the journey to the extent that prevents it, or whether they will not bedangers to our lives. We also need to find out how to deal with such accidents and stock up on constantly used drugs and remember to pack them in hand luggage. The practical procedure in this case is to have a medical document with a description of the disease and indications for the procedure. If it is necessary to contact the he alth service in the region of our trip, it will significantly facilitate helping us. Of course, this document should be translated into the appropriate language used in the country (s) of our trip.

A visit to the dentist is required before each vacation (dental checkup and treatment if necessary). Taking into account the possible additional examinations, the period needed for dental treatment or vaccinations, and finally the need to wait for medical services, the visit to the doctor should take place at least6-8 weeks before the date of departure!

Prepare the first aid kit for a specific trip - you may need different medicines in each country

When visiting a doctor, it is worth discussing the composition of the first aid kit that we will take with us on a trip. The first aid kit should be stocked with certain standard medications and medical supplies, as well as medications related to the he alth condition of the person traveling. When completing the first aid kit, one should take into account the travel route, time of stay and additional circumstances (e.g. staying in high mountain terrain). The first aid kit should be accompanied by a list of medicines or preparations taken, as well as detailed information on their use (especially contraindications and side effects; it is worth taking the original leaflets). It is difficult to give the composition of the "universal travel medicine cabinet", but you can generally define what drugs and medical supplies should be included in it.

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Where to get medications for local diseases?

When completing the first aid kit, it is necessary to refer to the often repeated opinion that drugs related to local diseases (prophylactic against malaria or anti-diarrheal) are best bought in target countries. This is a very risky thesis because it is known that the pharmaceutical market, especially in "exotic" countries, is full of counterfeit pharmaceutical preparations. So it's easy to buy a drug that doesn't work either - it doesn't have any healing properties. says …

What else to pack in the first aid kit?

In addition to the basic equipment of the first aid kit, for a trip to the tropics you also need to pack:

  • drugs used in the prevention of malaria;
  • water disinfectants (or filters);
  • insect repellants;
  • creams withUV filter;
  • moisturizing lipstick ("lip gloss") also with UV filter.

To consider, especially when we are going to the interior:

  • disposable gloves;
  • disposable syringes and needles; (note: we can, however, raise the suspicion that we are not taking drugs);
  • small tools, such as small scissors or small tweezers.

Traveling with a child

If we take children on a trip, remember that for young people, other medications are often used and the dosing rules are also different. Therefore, the equipment of the first aid kit in this regard should be consulted with a pediatrician.

The article is based on materials prepared by prof. Andrzej Urbanik, Head of the Department of Imaging Diagnostics, University Hospital in Krakow

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