Okay, I know this isn't something we want to discuss in too much detail. Actually, most of us don't even want to think about it (and usually don't!) but ...What should we be aware of in case of a medical "emergency" (non-life threatening type) requiring surgery?

Hmmm. A non life threatening medical emergency requiring surgery. Here are some thoughts.

1. There are excellent doctors and medical facilities in Spain. This is true. Don't forget it and think you'd get better care in the US. Trust them. (And then hope you get a good doctor! - Basically what you have to do in the US, too!)

2. For possible insurance headaches, be sure you have to have the surgery there. You may also want to get traveller's insurance that covers anything like that during your trip. I got some for my last trip, and although I didn't need it, it was good knowing I had it.

3. Also, insist on a second opinion, if your case can wait that long - even if it's another doctor in the same hospital. I was told I needed immediate surgery when I was there only a few months. I promptly replied I was catching the next plane for the US. More doctors got involved, and another doctor was able to solve the problem with penicillin instead of surgery.

4. Be prepared to deal with doctors that do not speak English - especially the older and more experienced ones. Younger doctors are more willing to try out their English, but of course, they don't have much experience in medicine... If your Spanish is not good, be sure to have a dictionary, paper and pencil, and plan your questions, if you can. If you really want to be prepared, I guess you could write in Spanish any medical information a doctor would need to know before the trip - medicines you take, allergies, important medical history...

5. Since you don't pay seguridad social, you may be admitted into a private hospital instead of a seguridad social hospital, if both exist where you are. This happened to me in Madrid. This may be better or worse for you - hard to say. It will really depend on your doctor, and the good ones work in both places.

6. You'll be given a private room, probably with a pull out bed for someone to stay with you - a friend or family member. Wards are only for people who pay seguridad social.

7. It's really helpful to have that person you know with you at all times. They can keep an eye on things like IVs that need changing, running after nurses who need to administer medicines, etc. The nurses can use the help, and often rely on it.

8. Spaniards aren't lawsuit-happy like Americans are. As a result, I find Spanish doctors to be more open and honest. They may also ridicule you and make you feel dumb. Bedside manners aren't always the best. But remember - there are outstandingly good medical doctors in Spain. (Can't say the same about the dentists, though.)

9. If you have to buy medicine, there are two prices on the box. You will have to pay the higher price - and it can be a LOT higher. The low price is only for people being treted through seguridad social.

10. It's really easy to use an emergency room. Before going to Spain I was convinced ERs should be used only for very serious emergencies. I learned in Spain after my children were born there that you use an ER whenever you want. (The hospital people would probably say this is not so, but my experience of MANY trips to Spanish ERs has me convinced.) Actually, one of the finest doctors I ever met, who ended up saving my son's life from a rare condition, was in the ER we took him to. If you are worried about something, and you can't see a doctor soon because it's a weekend, or night, or you just need to see one and you don't know where to go, go to the local ER. No one there will be upset with you, believe me.

Hope this helps!

Thank you, Diana! You've been extremely helpful.

You're welcome, Carole! Here's one more bit of information - a list of important phone numbers, as well as clinics and doctors' offices where English is spoken, from the US embassy website in Madrid: http://www.embusa.es/cons/medical.html

I believe the Hospital Ruber Internacional is the one used by many foreigners. I've had experience with several other hospitals in Madrid, but not that one. I've heard good things about it, though.

I don't think anyone can compete on a factual level with Diana's Dianatribe on hospitalization in Spain (sorry about the pun :)), but here's some practical experience:

I've been thrice: Once for, shall we say, "clogged pipes", once for some rayos-x on my chest, and once for a more serious ligament tear in my ankle (requiring casting, etc.).

The pipe de-clogging went fairly well, as the staff was very friendly (this was in Avilés, Asturias). I always felt like I was in a hospital in the US, which while not necessarily better or worse, was a known quantity.

The x-rays were a bit stranger, as they were handled in a clínica...a bit disorganized, and frankly frightening. I think that this was one of those "seguridad social" facilities Diana was talking about.

The third and most severe, the casting, was handled at the Virgen Blanca Hospital in Bilbao. They were very professional, very knowledgeable, but also still using plaster-of-Paris for casts (in 1993...). (That's okay since they're easier to sign:rolleyes .

I would have to say that despite the variety of conditions, I always felt at ease whilst being attended to at a facility. JUST PRAY YOU DON'T HAVE AN ACCIDENT AND HAVE THE "CRUZ ROJA" DUDES PICK YOU UP IN THEIR MEAT WAGON !!! That is nothing but Keystone Kops-style paramedicine!!!

I had to take someone to Hospital del Mar in Barcelona. It was nicer than a lot of hospitals I've been in in the States.

However foreigners do have to pay for services, so your insurance will reimburse that when you get home.

When I first came here in the mid eighties it could take a couple of hours sometimes to get from the other side of Marbella to Malaga where the nearest emergency room was. For this reason a helicopter rescue service was started up, whereby people paid an annual fee and this way could get transported in fifteen minutes instead and maybe save their life and at the least a lot of discomfort. They did very well with loads of paid up members!!

A few years ago a new district hospital was built near Marbella and other than a couple of sporting injuries I'd never had cause to "try it out" personally. Last year I managed to successfully write off my new car when I crashed in a tunnel at 100 kph. The scariest moments of my life were made so much easier by the paramedics and guardia civil involved - not the Cruz Roja "Keystone Cops" that CaliBasco refers to!!

Although I have private medical insurance, all accident cases are taken to the social security hospital anyway and they were fantastic. The Anchovy lived to fight on and has nothing but praise for the staff there.

Anybody who has had in-patient care there is always singing their praises too. Two patients maximum to a room, caring medical team, interpreters on hand. Nobody should worry at all if my hospital is typical of the rest of the country. My mother, who is 80 this year, has just had both eyes operated on for cataracts and they cared for her ever so well. Thumbs up for them!

Anchovy,

How many times do we have to tell you that you keep your eyes open when driving through tunnels?

The passengers can sleep but you have to be alert as long as you have the pedal to the metal.

From what I heard, the Red Cross people are heavily populated by young men who do not want to do military time. My guess is... if you can't stand the sight of blood in battle, what makes anyone think you'll do better on a highway?

That brings us to training... hardly at the same level as an Emergency Medical Technician or a Paramedic I would guess.

Wolf

I knew I was doing something wrong, but just couldn't put my finger on it..........! Believe me, whenever I have to go through that Marbella tunnel (only when REALLY neccesary!), my peepers are W-I-D-E open now!!!

I may be wrong, but I thought the Cruz Roja ambulances did most of their transporting for people who were not in serious emergencies. They sure aren't very impressive, and some of the other small local outfits aren't, either. Isn't it SAMUR, or something like that, that goes to the car crashes and other types of major accidents? I've heard their people are outstanding - extremely capable and well-trained.

There is a huge difference in training from the "pros" to the crucirojos. You guys are right on. I take my opinion from something I witnessed in Valladolid about 10 years ago:

A moped driver had flipped over his handlebars and hit a tree. We would have pitched in to help, but the Cruz Roja van happened to be right behind the guy when he endo-ed, so they jumped out and got right to the task of making things worse . They had a two-piece stretcher that clamped together in the middle, and without checking him over, they jostled the poor man and wiggled the stretcher until it "clicked" into place. All the while, the "victim" was wailing in agony . The "medics", seemingly sordos, went right on as if nothing was wrong.

I swore off scooter riding for five years after that episode. :p

[ 05-11-2001: Message edited by: CaliBasco ]

You're right Diana. By ringing 061 you get the paramedics in the UVI, intensive care vehicle. They DO know what they're doing. It goes like a bat out of hell, too!

I thought (for a second) to make a new thread on this topic, but since it's all health-care related and since my ladyfriend isn't within a few million miles of earshot.....

I sometimes think what paramedics do with the elderly/sick who live in those 6-story housing buildings (like my ladyfriend's mother!) which have no elevator and the staircase is narrow?? I can't imagine how they could strap an ailing person (or someone who has just had a heart attack) to a stretcher and practically stand them up to make the turns going down the stairs.

Saludos, MadridMan

MadridMan,

Gawd! I can just see it now! A gurney strapped to a furniture dolly, clunking down one step at a time for six stories.

Not exactly something that inspires a good feeling for anyone we care for.

Wolf

Ha! What a sight! Well, I'm decades away from being old, but as a young lady of only 24 years I was carried from my 6th floor apartment in Madrid to a waiting ambulance on a -- straight chair. That's how it's done. They plop you onto a straight chair and two burly (hah!) men carry you down to the ambulance. If you get seasick, it's definitely not the way to go.

This thread is starting to make me feel like a feeble, sickly person! I NEVER get sick! Except for a few strange and unexplained medical emergencies that happened to me - all during my first year in Spain - hmmmm... And having children - but that's a whole other topic!