Many tourism establishments may be unwittingly exposing their businesses to potential civil claims for damages by simply, as laymen, trying to help guests in a medical emergency.

This was the warning issued to business owners during a recent webinar panel discussion hosted by SATIB Insurance Brokers, which specialises in tourism and leisure insurance.

SATIB Executive Director, Dewald Cilliers, said guesthouse and other travel business owners needed to have a firm plan in place before facing a medical emergency involving a guest. He said medical emergencies were complex to manage and even more complicated when involving international tourists.

Cilliers cautioned that even an innocuous gesture such as administering a headache tablet to a guest could have unforeseen legal and financial implications. “There are quite dire implications for both the company and the individual that dispenses the medication.

“The law has changed over the years to such an extent that, if you put yourself in the position of a professional or an expert without being one, you could be tried. Besides your company potentially being held liable and having a big (financial) claim against your company or your employee, you could personally be held responsible and be potentially charged criminally,” he said.

Cilliers said it was crucial for businesses to display a medical emergency number, such as that of SATIB24, throughout the resort. He said this would enable both guests and employees to instantly access professional medical advice in an emergency.

“It’s no use scratching around for the number when you need it. It should be in the office, on the game-drive vehicle and staff should know the number by heart because incidents don’t keep to office hours. The first person notified of the incident needs to know what to do. Preparedness is critical in any incident,” he pointed out.

Staff and guests must have access

Lucien Niemann, executive director of SPS Medical, which provides medical emergency management for SATIB24, said it was important for staff and guests to have access to the number.

“The number should be next to guests’ bed in their room. We have had a number of incidents where guests have called us directly because they can’t get hold of someone at the guesthouse and have no idea what to do, so we have stepped in and acted in the best interests of clients. The number should be near every phone in the resort,” Niemann said.

He used the example of an incident where a guest at a lodge in rural Limpopo had required SATIB24’s assistance. He said in the space of an hour and a half the firm had managed to airlift a 76-year-old cardiac patient to a hospital to receive care.

However, Niemann, said it had been a challenge as there had been no ambulances available in the region, and the first hospital the firm had contacted had refused to drive the 3.5 hours to collect the patient.

He said the second hospital that accepted him being airlifted by helicopter, declined him at the last minute, after it gave its last ICU bed away to another patient. Eventually, while the helicopter was in the air, the patient was successfully admitted to Sunninghill Hospital in Johannesburg. He was treated and recovered fully within three days.

Cilliers added that SATIB24 was not a replacement for travel insurance but a necessary aid during the golden hour to save guests’ lives.

“The purpose of SATIB24 is not to step in and take over from a travel policy or a medical aid. The purpose of SATIB 24 is that we have realised that, during the critical golden hour, we have to maximise every second within that hour.”

He said it was vital to have someone who was removed from the trauma of the moment to call for an ambulance or a helicopter to manage the emergency because the first questions medical services providers asked was who would pay for the service.