UK P&I Club offers insight in regards to repatriating sick and injured seafarers – the process of returning a seafarer to their home country, following an injury or illness.
A situation requiring medical repatriation can happen anywhere in the world and can be quite costly depending on the home country of the seafarer and their medical condition. As a result, there are two areas of concern when thinking about medical repatriation: the welfare of the crewmember and controlling the costs.
First, the medical condition of the seafarer will determine whether repatriation is even possible. The decision as to whether a crewmember can be repatriated will firstly lie with the treating doctors. The seafarer must be deemed “fit to travel” by the treating doctor.
This is entirely a medical decision and many times it usually depends on the illness or injury sustained as well as the type of transport to be used. Furthermore, depending on the nature of the injury or illness, air travel can have certain risks due to changes in air pressure.
Other considerations include if the prognosis is for short- term or long- term care, if there are appropriate medical facilities in the seafarer’s home country, and how far are they from where the seafarer lives. If the seafarer’s home country does not have the medical facilities capable of handling their particular medical issues, is there an interim destination available?
Depending on the seafarer’s medical needs, there are several different methods of medical transport:
- Road
- Commercial airline, where the seafarer is seated, in a lie-flat seat or on a stretcher
- Air ambulance
- With a nurse to doctor escort them, or both
- With or without wheelchair assistance
- With or without oxygen/artificial respiration.
There are many parties that become involved in caring for and repatriating a sick or injured seafarer. Those include:
- Ship’s Master and/or crew
- Crewing department
- Ship’s agent
- P&I Club
- P&I Club’s local correspondent in the country of disembarkation as well as the seafarer’s home country
- Treating hospitals
- Medical case management companies
- Seafarer’s family
- Receiving medical facility in the seafarer’s home country
Managing the advice, recommendations and concerns of all these difference interests can be a challenging task.
Selecting a medical escort also hinges on a number of important considerations:
- The current location of the seafarer
- The nationality of the seafarer
- The nationality of the escort
- The availability of the escort
- Ensuring the escort is properly insured
In addition, there is often an economic motivation to repatriate seafarers, particularly when U.S. medical costs are in play. It is widely known that medical costs in the U.S. are some of the most expensive in the world. Medical care in the seafarer’s home country may be significantly less costly, but it’s important to be certain that the seafarer is able to receive the same level of care in his home country.
Medical repatriation costs can vary significantly depending upon the needs of the seafarer. Air ambulances are commonly used in the most serious cases, and their costs can differ greatly, depending upon the distance between the port of disembarkation and the seafarer’s home country.
