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Anywhere on Planet,
There’s Help Available
Top of the line in the treatment/stabilization/evacuation
category is the sleek clinic across the road from the US Embassy
belonging to AEA International SOS.
These two sets of initials fused in July of last year in when AEA
International, headquartered in Singapore, and US-born International
SOS Assistance merged resources to give birth to a worldwide network
of emergency care facilities.
The union has produced a network of 24 Alarm Centers, 17 clinics and
more than 100 remote-site medical facilities, stretching from
Seattle to South Korea, Montreal to Moscow and South Africa to Papua
New Guinea, with many points between. The aim is to provide international-class facilities in the developing world.
Most users of the system work for global organizations and the
primary function is medical evacuation. However, to provide enhanced
service, the organization also has clinics offering 24-hour
emergency care and a range of regular medical services. These can be
offered as a prepaid service to members or on a fee-for-service
basis to non-members.
The basic cost for a clinic consultation is $50, with follow-up
visits usually being $25. Specialists attend the clinic, offering
dermatological, venerology and ob/gyn expertise and their
consultations are generally $85 with follow-up visits at $45.
There are three full-time doctors at the clinic and for specific
needs such as cardiology, electrocardiogram information can be faxed
to Singapore for a distance consultation. Additionally, there are
two nurses on staff at the clinic. A translator provides services
for Japanese clients and other language skills cover English,
French, German and Khmer.
An emergency room and a stabilizing unit are in the clinic complex
and critical-care nursing is available whenever necessary.
Diagnostic laboratory facilities are set up in the clinic, although
some tests are sent to the Pasteur Institute and others to Singapore
for analysis. Additionally, AEA International SOS plans a satellite
station in Siem Reap and dental services in Phnom Penh.
But still, the excitement levels peak at the clinic when someone is
brought in for evacuation, requiring the services of doctors, a
critical-care nurse and the talents and experience of the aviation
group, which may involve charter planes, in-transit care and
ambulances at each end. Although nobody wants to be in such a fix
that they need to be flown out to Singapore or Bangkok, it is a
sobering reflection that barely a month passes without somebody
receiving this service from AEA International SOS.
—Elizabeth Wright
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