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Medical Evacuation for Mexico
SkyMed medical evacuation for Baja, Mexico, North America and Central America
Cathie Smith LoCicero who lived in Cabo San Lucas, Baja, has been a SkyMed representative since 2002. Cathie helps people eliminate the expense of a costly air evacuation when their primary or travel emergency medical insurance air evacuation policy, doesn’t cover it, has high deductibles or co-pays, or restricts the circumstances of the transport. SkyMed membership has plans for people who live in Mexico, are frequent visitors, and also short term programs, starting at 4 days for a trip to Mexico.
SkyMed is NOT an insurance policy but a membership that can provide you better emergency medical services than many emergency resident and travelers’ insurance policies. SkyMed membership offers a full package to fly you home covering 100% the costs to get you home to your own medical provider of choice to help you reduce the emergency medical costs to live in Mexico and give you the security of going to your own doctor “back home”. So whether you are a short term traveler in need of a program that goes beyond your travel insurance policy, or an ex-pat living in Mexico that has medical insurance in your home country and want to get home, read on and find out why SkyMed is the answer for you.
What would you do if faced with an unexpected medical emergency while traveling in Baja, Mexico? Offering short, medium, or long term emergency air evacuation protection programs for trips to Mexico; whether you fly, drive, or take a cruise within our service area, one issue in the back of the mind of every traveler is, "if something happens to me, how do I get home?" Suffering a critical accident or illness can not only ruin a vacation but cost you, the traveler, tens of thousands of dollars!
And in these hard economic times, saving thousands of dollars in the event of an unexpected medical emergency is more important than ever! Sky Med provides you with peace of mind. When our members suffer medical emergencies and need an air ambulance while traveling more than 100 air miles from home; in the United States including Alaska and Hawaii, throughout Canada, all over Mexico, the Caribbean, Bermuda, Belize, and Costa Rica, our solution returns them to their local hospital in their home town, their own medical care providers, where their primary medical insurance covers them, and to their family and friends…ALL the way home! SkyMed pays 100%! You never pay a cent out of pocket. No deductibles, no co-pays, no claim forms. SkyMed takes you HOME, and it's affordable too!
SkyMed membership benefits include hospital-to hospital emergency medical air transportation, including airport/hospital ground ambulance transfers, transportation for recuperation at home, commercial carrier escort flights, escort transportation, minor children and grandchildren return, RV and/or vehicle return, visitor transportation, return transportation after recovery, incidental expense allowance, organ retrieval, organ recipient transportation, and physical remains return.
SkyMed options include Mexico residents including from their city of residence in Mexico (100 mile from home requirement waived), helicopter, primary driver disability, 100 mile from home waiver American and U.S. residents, ground ambulance services beyond airport/hospital service, SkyMed plus endorsement that provides many additional travel services. The new Ultimate plan is a five year membership that includes ALL the SkyMed options and saves the member over $1000 in additional benefits.
Many plans sold as “emergency travel” insurance merely provide transport to the closest “appropriate” hospital. The closest “appropriate” hospital can be thousands of miles from your home and cost you and your spouse thousands of dollars in hotel and other expenses! Travelers who suffer serious medical problems can be left stranded by the very “emergency travel” insurance they relied upon for protection.
Ardene Janssen of Eureka, CA., writes: "While at our condominium in Mexico in April of this year, my husband fell and fractured his left femur. Because he presents a very complicated and precarious medical case, it was essential that he could be air-evacuated home where his primary care physician and his specialists could coordinate his care. It required 48 hours to stabilize him before surgery could be safely performed. Now, one month later, he is just home from acute hospitalization and in-patient rehabilitation care. He will be non-weight bearing for some time yet, but the prognosis for recovery is favorable.
"We had purchased a SkyMed emergency medical air transportation membership. Their services to us in this crisis were outstanding. After linking with the physicians in San Jose Del Cabo and Eureka, there was no doubt that he belonged at home if he could withstand the duration of the flight (he was bleeding internally). In order to minimize the time and risk to my husband and get him home, SkyMed sent a Lear Jet staffed by two very experienced travel nurses. The co-captain was fluent in Spanish and was able to expedite the departure of the aircraft. We were 4.5 hours in flight to cover the length of the Baja peninsula and the State of California! I truly believe that my husband survived because of the fine emergency medical care provided by Dr. Jose Cerda in San Jose Del Cabo and the professional and expeditious services of SkyMed."
The Altounian’s were in Cabo San Lucas when Audrey became ill and sought medical help. Over the course of a week, Audrey was in and out of the hospital five times for treatment of a severe kidney infection. Further complications developed, and Audrey and James decided it was time to return home for continuing medical treatment.
The Altounian’s had Dr. Rivas contact SkyMed to request hospital-to-hospital transport for Audrey to Lake Forest, Illinois, for further medical care. Arrangements were made with their home hospital for admittance, and the following morning, SkyMed arrived in Cabo to transport the Altounian’s to Illinois.
Wrote Audrey, “The care onboard the plane was excellent, and the medical personnel were very good. We were picked up by ground ambulance at the airport in Lake Forest, and taken right to the hospital. The medical personnel’s report to the hospital’s medical staff was excellent!”
Transports from Mexico involve more planning then transports within the U.S. Passport information must be collected and verified though Homeland Security. Airports in Mexico are basically open from dawn to dusk, so timing of flights is crucial. The closet available aircraft still must have 2-3 hours to assemble a crew and clear customs, plus flying time to the destination. In spite of all this, the majority of transports, if we receive notification early in the day, are handled within 12 to 24 hours.
SkyMed TAKES YOU HOME is a complete package that meets the recommendations of the US and Canadian Consulates. While other plans leave the patient stranded at a distant location, SkyMed returns the member, spouse or companion, their children and/or grandchildren, stranded vehicles and pets -- to the only place that really matters...home.
Cathie Smith LoCicero lived in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico from 1984 until Jan. 2008. She has been active in real estate and insurance, and has been a SkyMed representative since 2002. In 2008 she sold her insurance agency in Los Cabos but retained her SkyMed book of business, which she maintains from her home in Las Cruces, New Mexico. She is now in charge of new representatives in Mexico, Belize, and Costa Rica. Even though she was the top producer in homeowners insurance in Northwest Mexico with both GNP and ABA insurance companies, she has always considered SkyMed her most important product, for both travelers to Baja and “expat” residents as well.
SkyMed Takes You HOME!
