Along with the increasing numbers of tourists, business travelers and expats in South East Asia came the rising number of medical emergencies. The quality of medical services in South East Asia differs a lot depending on the location. While countries like Singapore and Malaysia provide the same standard as Europe or North America, other countries in the region can only provide very basic treatment options.
Even in medically advanced countries, foreign patients can easily get into medical trouble, e.g. with depleted or invalid insurances. When Intensive Care, Surgery, Rehabilitation etc. is free in the home country, repatriation can become a valid option.
Over the years Dr. Gerhard Melcher made himself a name in countless actions to help locals, tourists and expats seeking medical help in South-East-Asia and also started to organize medical repatriations. Various embassies located in South-East-Asia consider his services when foreign medical help needed, in both medical and repatriation cases.
Repatriations from all over South-East-Asia
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Repatriations is a medical transport of severely sick or injured patients from a visited country to a more advanced medical institution in their home country. A repatriation usually takes place under medical supervision by a doctor and/or a nurse.
Before the repatriation, the patient has to be stabilized to minimize complications on the following flight
As the flight is the most critical phase of the repatriation process, only very few doctors are trusted with this procedure
The patient is transferred to a hospital in the home country, where treatment is covered by the health insurance
To fully recover from a serious sickness or injury, the patient has to undergo a rehabilitaion treatment
There are two main cases when patients are repatriated: Patients with minor health issues not being able to travel by themselves, e.g. because of psychological issues and injured or sick patients who are connected to ICU (Intensive Care Unit) equipment, who need to be monitored by a team of doctors and nurses to make the transport as save as possible.
The hardest part of a repatriation is to find the right "window period" after the medical stabilization when a medical transport is possible. This has to be planned as meticulously and carefully as possible and it needs a very experienced doctor to make this important decision.
Even after being stabilized in the first place, the window period sometimes closes due to deteriorating conditions, making it impossible to transport the patient without major medical risks.
The patient is accompanied by a flight nurse who e.g. checks the medicaction level of the patient in case of a psychological issue
Transport on a Stretcher, which is put on top of 2-4 normal seats. Usually one of the back rows is reserved for this way of transport
The PTC is a closed cabin which provides all the equipment for intense care. It needs approximately 12-14 standard seats
Costs of a repatriation are not covered by the normal health insurance, there are however special insurances which cover repatriations. We cannot provide you with precise numbers, because every repatriation is especially tailored to the patient's needs. There are also factors which cannot be influenced, e.g. if there is no ground personal in the destination who can build back the stretchers, the aircraft will fly back in this configuration and the empty seats have to be paid by the patient.
Study of Medicine at the TU & LMU in Munich, Germany, speaks German, English and Thai fluently
Bachelor of Nursing at Burapha University, speaks English and Thai fluently
After a serious motorcycle accident, the Briton was in a coma and was flown back to England from Phuket by Dr. Melcher and his team and is now being treated at Royal Sussex County Hospital.
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The Sun
Thanks to donations and Dr. Melcher's help, Michael could be repatriated home to his family.
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leetchi.com
Sachsen-Anhalt Nachrichten (PDF)
RTL Explosiv – Repatriation I (Video)
RTL Explosiv – Repatriation II (Video)
After a sudden cardiac arrest, colleagues organized the repatriation together with Dr. Melcher
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