People long to get out and about. We are all looking forward to our next big trip, especially now. Whether it’s to visit family and friends in another state, or for adventure and discovery overseas, or to escape the coming winter and go south to the islands – travel is important. But travel carries risks, like a traffic accident, hurricane or Covid-19 exposure, that may dramatically change our plans.
Mitigating those risks doesn’t happen on its own. It requires a willingness to adapt, wise planning and often obtaining emergency protection. Those are the essentials. No one does it by themselves, either. Cooperation and collaboration between travelers, governments and the private sector are essential to minimizing these risks.
Traveler opinions time and again show a willingness to pay for increased safety protections during travel. A recent international traveler sentiment survey conducted by Price Waterhouse Coopers revealed safety “matters so much to consumers that they are willing to pay more for it.”
A Global Rescue survey of more than 2,200 frequent travelers found they agreed by wide margins (90+%) they would feel safer if they – and all travelers – had services and protections for medical emergencies, including COVID-19. The survey further revealed that 88% of travelers want governments or organizations to step in and systematize programs calculated to beat COVID-19.
Until the introduction of the Jamaica Cares program, no government or organization had implemented a mandatory, comprehensive emergency services and traveler protection program.
The Jamaica Cares traveler protection and services program is a new model created to address the travel risk and crisis management challenges of the 21st century, including the current pandemic. The initiative is comprised of two components: there is an all-hazards program and a COVID-19 specific program.
The programs include field rescue, emergency transport, advisory and oversight services from the personnel at Global Rescue and our partners at Johns Hopkins Emergency Medicine Division of Special Operations and Elite Medical Group. Arrangements with Jamaican hospitals and medical centers are put in place for provision of local care. Medical evacuation will be provided for those who need higher levels of care. Additionally, the all-hazards program includes evacuation, medical and crisis support, logistics and response for all tourists in need for all emergencies, big and small, including natural disasters like earthquakes and hurricanes.
The COVID-19 specific program includes rapid testing, triage, treatment, quarantine, evacuation, repatriation, and associated care in Jamaica and access to Global Rescue personnel in Jamaica for immediate response.
The Jamaica Cares program will establish the Jamaica Operations Center (JOC) based in Montego Bay with additional expansion to other locations as necessary. We intend to employ up to 80 medical crisis and response personnel who will ensure a rapid, boots-on-the-ground, response capability for dealing with crises when they occur, including coordinated COVID-19 response throughout Jamaica and the region.
The program will be available to all nationalities and non-resident Jamaicans entering Jamaica. Everyone will be able to rely on the program to provide these essential services if and when they need them.
The $40 compulsory fee provides access to a variety of travel risk and crisis management and response services. It starts with medical advisory services for each individual traveling to Jamaica. For those who are symptomatic, there is access to rapid testing. Services include case management and logistics as needed to get an individual the care needed in Jamaica. Ultimately, if necessary, evacuation, transport and repatriation back to the individual’s home country is provided.
The program includes two insurance elements. One covers medical expenses in the country of Jamaica and, if and when there is an evacuation needed, the other covers medical care needed on the transport. Hopefully the need will be low, as Jamaica’s Minister Edmund Bartlett noted, the recent track record of Jamaica is a good one with no infections noted among travelers to the country.
We built an end-to-end solution to give visitors to Jamaica the protection services needed to restore the peace of mind vital for people to being traveling again. Recovery starts with this approach. We know the desire to travel is significant and growing, but if people don’t feel confident that their safety and well-being will be taken care of, they won’t go. This is exactly what the Jamaica Cares program is all about – giving people the confidence to travel again – and creating a model for tourist economies to reopen around the world.
Dan Richards is CEO of Global Rescue, the world’s leading provider of medical, security, evacuation and travel risk management services to enterprises, governments and individuals. Founded in 2004, Global Rescue has exclusive relationships with the Johns Hopkins Emergency Medicine Division of Special Operations and Elite Medical Group. Global Rescue provides best-in-class services that identify, monitor and respond to client medical and security crises.
By Dan Richards
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