QUESTION sick on holiday and you forgot the EHIC!

QUESTION:

I am sick in spain and I don't have my EHIC, its a friday night and the consulate is closed! help!

This is a how to guide for the scenario stated before, what would I do(based on facts&personal experience)

So, you are sick with a condition that cannot wait until monday: what do you do?

1º YOU CALL THE CONSULATE (if your condition is not a life threatening emergency, if that is the case, you go straight to the hospital): first of all, which number should you call? Certainly NOT this one 902 109 356 with this number, YOU pay, not fair in my opinion. So call this one 917 146 300, here they will guide you until they connect with someone from FCO in London.

*what do you need to ask? the best thing is a certificate of coverage by the EHIC, and they should be able to email it to you, or the hospital that you are planning to go. In the case they cannot provide you with the certificate, the EHIC number IS enough. The invoicing dept of the hospital can input that number and “voila”.

Note: some hospitals are already into the database of the EHIC, BUT if it were me, I would rather have a paper or my number.

So, another takeaway: WRITE THE EHIC NUMBER IN A SAFE PLACE BEFORE YOU LEAVE!, it can save you a lot of hassle.

2º Off you go to the hospitals, but OH!, which are the public hospitals? I will put here the costa del sol ones, for other communities, I leave you here with the whole catalog of hospitals in spain 
http://www.msssi.gob.es/ciudadanos/prestaciones/centrosServiciosSNS/hospitales/docs/CNH2013.pdf.

By clicking “ctl”+ “F” you will be presented with a little search menu on the upper right side of the page, put the name of the province you’re in. This will take you to “altas” (new hospitals(clinics), and “bajas” (closed down hospitals/clinics), disregard this and with the little down arrow at the right-hand side go to a page that looks like the picture.

- avoid the word private: privado. benefico or not benefico is not important. avoid for the EHIC

- the public ones are usually: servicio andaluz/valenciano/catalán/vasco/extremeño/madrileño/gallego/asturiano de salud

In the malaga province the public ones are:

-in malaga city: Carlos Haya, Clínico Universitario Virgen de la Victoria (HUVV), Materno infantil, hospital FAC Dr pascual ( I would avoid... just my opinion)

-In the costa: CARE Benalmadena ( a well kept secret: an a&e dept with LITTLE people & wait time!!!!!. if you are at the same distance between them , go there. if you then need specialized attention, they will send you to the costa del sol, with your assessment, labs, etc, by ambulance usually, so you won't have to wait as much)

CARE Mijas (this does not have an A&E) and Costa del sol. (best time to go to an A&E?, saturday, sunday or weekday 9AM , or in the middle of the night)

3º You are IN the hospital:

You go to the front desk, and you say that you do not have your EHIC with you, but that this is your number or certificate if you could get it. if not, say you do not have your card, but you will sign a “compromiso de pago” and you will come back on monday with the certificate or number given by the consulate:

“no tengo mi tarjeta sanitaria europea conmigo, puedo firmar un compromiso de pago y traerla el lunes, cuando el consulado abre?”

A hint: DO NOT provide your credit card info, do not open your wallet in front of them, they are quick, and they want to be paid, so if they see a credit card, they will say, oh, you can just leave us your credit card number: I would not do that, I would prefer the compromiso de pago.

* now you are seeing the Dr, if you dont have an interpreter or she doesn't speak english, what can you do? three things:

- you can call me: don’t worry I won’t break your finances: 674945204. I will speak to the dr, and then explain to you what is wrong. Also I will explain the treatment & write a summary for you in english AND  I will translate you report for your dr if you want.

- if you have a smartphone or tablet: before you leave download “google translate”

You write the symptoms in the first box, they get translated and then you press the little speaker and it TALKS!, you own personal translator.

- if you don't have a tablet or smartphone, you can use TELE-TRADUCCION. If the dr does not mention it to you, YOU have the obligation to yourself to bring it up. Studies show that not being able to understand each other leads to bad medicine. It’s your health, the most precious thing you have, speak up. Ask for it.

4º Now you are hopefully better or admitted.

tips: it has been shown that people (that speak the same language) understand only 40% of what their dr says, so imagine you in a strange country.... so here are some suggestions:

- go into the consultation with a relative

-try and find a translator

- call ME! (674945204)

- tape the consultation: ask: “le molesta si lo grabo por si no entiendo algo?, es que luego no me entero y asi lo puedo escuchar otra vez”.

- Do not leave without having a clear understanding of what medications you have to take, for how long. Also, When and if/when you have to go back to the hospital. You may use this page to write the medicines, print the page out before you leave your country, and write your usual medications, then add what new medicine you will be taking and for HOW LONG!: http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/csi/csi-map-med-list.pdf

it looks like this

Now you should bea all set.

But remember, if you are in the A&E, and something feels off, or you think you are not getting good care,CALL ME, as I said, I won’t break your finances and I could save your life....

if you have experiences about being sick and without the EHIC, please, leave them in the comments section, I would love to hear about them.