Features

From Austria to Egypt:a bumpy ride

From riding a motorcycle to racing to the hospital: this was the end of the Egyptian stay of a 40-year-old Austrian enjoying a sabbatical to pursue his passion for diving. On 24 June 2011 he was on the road with his motorcycle. Suddenly and unexpectedly a police truck, which was proceeding along the left lane, turned right and invaded his lane. Too late for evasive maneuvers.

There was a nasty crash, the motorcycle slipped under the truck and the man was run over, fracturing his pelvis and sacrum as well as suffering other contusions and injuries. Fortunately for him, DAN Europe follows its members everywhere: the man had in fact recently subscribed to the new Pro Gold Family plan introduced in 2010. This provides insurance cover for the nominee and their family of up to 4 people even for medical emergencies not related to diving as well as assistance in travels abroad.

The efficiency and responsiveness of DAN services have once again been tested on Egyptian territory, where DAN Europe is well-known and appreciated: as soon as the doctors of Hurghada’s Nile Hospital, where the victim was taken urgently, heard that he was a DAN member, they immediately got in touch with DAN Europe’s International Emergency Operations Centre. Once the man’s data and membership had been verified, DAN assistance provided an immediate Guarantee of Payment for transport and hospital costs.

The aim of the assistance in the following days was also that of accelerating as much as possible the time taken to get the member back to his own country. Dealing with the accident necessitated all the documentation associated with the accident to be accessed several times a day: his passport, visa, driving licence, the motorbike’s log-book, the accident report and medical records (including their translation from Arabic) and an estimate of the costs. For the whole period of the hospital stay in Egypt, DAN offices also kept in constant contact with the victim’s wife, until his conditions stabilised. At that point DAN Europe was able to organise the return to Austria by air ambulance with medical assistance. On board were the injured man on a stretcher, his wife and the DAN doctor. The man’s holiday thus ended on 7th July in a hospital of his choosing, where he was taken in for the continuation of his treatment and rehabilitation therapy. The total cost of the assistance was about 45,000 Euros between air transport and hospital costs, for which the grateful DAN member did not have to pay a penny.

Fitting epilogues to the affair were the report written by the man during his convalescence and the enthusiastic Facebook post by his wife, addressed to all travellers and divers:

«When you travel, make sure you have taken out a good
insurance policy! I have just experienced how great it is
to feel safe and properly taken care of when something goes wrong!
Look after yourselves and you can’t go wrong with DAN
Europe!»