We don’t want to bring up any bad memories for you, but for today’s poll, we’re curious to learn if you or a partner have ever needed emergency medical care while RVing.
If you’re comfortable sharing the story after you vote, please do so in the comments. This can be a big concern for RVers who are constantly traveling, sometimes far from the nearest city or town!
We know this is a little different than needing emergency medical care, but this article by Lisa Adcox about what to do if you get sick as a full-time RVer may come in handy.
Had a TIA, middle of afternoon. Spent night in local stroke unit. Extremey great care.
All better now, with no residual effects.
Glad to hear you’re better, Tom.👍 Take care, and have a great day. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Not for my wife or I, but we did need emergency aid for one of dogs.
Same here. Fall of 2020…no local vets wanted to see anyone other than current clients, even for an emergency. Not fun.
One of our cats for us. Fortunately we were in a pretty populated area. Michigan State University has an awesome veterinary school with a full clinic/hospital should you need it…
Ruptured appendix. Wife drove me home.
We have never needed any emergency medical aid while traveling however there are two things we always do just in case. 1 We put a chalkboard face on one of our cabinets and part of our set up process is to put the name, site number, address, phone # of the park on that chalk board. Lately I have also been trying to ascertain the county we are in for emergency weather bulletins. 2 If we are going somewhere with our towed vehicle and particularly if just one of us is making an errand we have this information in the car as well
My husband suffered a stroke and heart attack this summer. On our way to the FMCA convention in Gillette, AT when it happened. We were overnighting in Sioux Falls, SD.
We were a long way from home. Thank goodness we had FMCA Assist. They flew us home, and a transport company drive our motorhome back. My husband is still under medical care.
Does camping in Vietnam in 1968 count on this poll? lol
Thanks for your service Bill
Tripped on RV patio rug 3 days after retirement. Broke wrist and sprained ankle. The hospital in Florida would not take insurance and wouldn’t work on wrist and ankle until I paid $1200 deposit!
Back in the mid-90’s we were touring with my in-law’s popup camper. One person cranked up the roof until the top half of the entrance door was properly positioned above the bottom half. I was cranking, my wife was inside guiding the door into place.
Just before reaching the correct height, the crank’s ratchet paw slipped and the roof fell. A corner of the half door badly sliced my wife’s hand. The campground’s map handed out at check-in included directions to the nearest ER.
Plenty of stitches and bandages cut our trip short. It was pretty bad, but healed. What we didn’t know until several months later was the damage to her spine that ultimately required surgery and subsequent related arthritis that will be with her the rest of her life.
Closer inspection showed some rounding of the paw’s face. I offered to take the camper to a dealer (100 miles each way, and therefore 400 miles total) for repair if my father-in-law would cover the roughly $100 (back then) for repair. He denied the paw was sufficiently worn and nobody ever again used that camper. The family found a buyer willing to haul it away just a couple years ago.
Cut my finger badly a few years ago and had to go the the emergency room at the local hospital. We just happen to currently be staying in the same rv park where that happened. Don’t plan on being that stupid again while we are here!!
“No, but travel partner has.” DW and I traveled to Alaska in 2019 in our bath-and-a-half DP. DW’s parents accompanied us pulling their 5th wheel. Father-in-law battled UTIs during trip, mostly successfully. Leaving Valdez in mid-June in-laws lost control in loose gravel in truck lane. Result was they went off the road with the truck ending on its side and the fifth wheel upside down and split open. Cell service was unavailable at that spot (and much of Thompson Pass on Richardson Highway). Passers-by called highway patrol and ambulance for father-in-law due to possibility of internal bleeding from the jolt he took. He was on blood thinners, so caution was exercised. After tests at hospital in Valdez, he was found to be bruised, but had no internal bleeding.
PS. This event demonstrated to us how close to useless Good Sam Travel Assist coverage is in a real medical emergency. We canceled our coverages after returning to the lower 48 and had solid cell coverage.
Neglected to add that once my in-laws were recovered from the accident, we continued traveling. The big change was we went from 2 people and 1 dog in our RV to 4 people and 2 dogs. Had we not had 1.5 baths and 43′ of RV, then the change would have been even more dramatic. After a month, including visiting Denali NP, of traveling together my in-laws flew home.
After 10+ years of traveling, we were really into a groove of who does what, when, and how so to speak. While workamping, my wife fractured 5 discs in her back. Sidelined us for about 2 years. Then we wanted to travel to Texas for our Great Nieces wedding. She fell in the Motorhome the morning of the wedding and broke her hip. Had to be transported to a hospital for surgery. Back on the road after 21 days of rehab, and she has a mild stroke. Again transported to a hospital for 7 days. Had to ship the dog home with a handler (who was great). So, yeah, medical situations do happen. But in the end, youve got to keep your mind and wits about you.
Coming back from a trip from somewhere, wifey was feeling lousey and we stopped at an ‘Emergency Room” in a small town. They got her in a room for the night and I was able to park our truck and trailer at the end of the parking lot. They told me RV’s park out there all the time. Wifey was set loose the next morning and we got home that same day. She went to see our regular doc that day too.
Once, after having a nice lunch at a restaurant in the Keys. Husband got up to leave. Made it about 10 steps and collapsed. An ambulance was right next to the restaurant. They took a while, I was sitting in our car. Finally knocked on door. Husband was alert and they were just doing a bunch of preliminary things. Took him to the hospital for more extensive check. Everything was ok and released him hours later. EMT’s/hospital staff/docs/nurses were great. He later admitted he thinks he took a muscle relaxant instead of another medication. He had a glass of wine at lunch. Not a happy wife. Very scary.
A week ago I would have been able to say no but this past Thursday I fell off the jetty at Cape Disappointment state park in Washington and broke my wrist. Fortunately a hospital was only 10 minutes away. They set my bones and splinted my arm. We continued on with our trip visiting a couple places in Oregon and will return home to the Kitsap peninsula in Washington tomorrow.
Wow, Carol. Sorry to hear about your (disappointing🙄) accident. I hope you have a complete and speedy recovery. Have a safe trip home. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Thank you, Diane! Yes the accident was disappointing but the Cape was beautiful! 😃
Yep, I’ve been there. Really beautiful! Have a great day. 😀 –Diane
Yes…most memorable…in Parumph, NV, on the edge of Death Valley about ready to start the Western Parks tour with Fantasy tours and I went to ER and asked them to convince me that I wasn’t having a heart attack. With the heat and traveling 5 days to get to the start location, I was severely dehydrated with a UTI. Folks….drink lots of water!
Gall bladder attack in west Texas–midnight drive to ER about 30 miles away. 2 1/2 day drive home to Wisconsin and emergency gall bladder surgery the next morning. Urgent Care visits for respiratory issues for both DH and myself in Louisiana. Good care everywhere.
Same here, but different results in central VA. Gall bladder attack in the morning, 60 minutes by ambulance to the ER, waited over 6 hours in agony and never was seen by a doctor. Gave up and took an Uber back to the campground once the pain subsided and drove home the next day. Spent five months with periodic attacks trying to get appointments until it was finally diagnosed as a malfunctioning gallbladder and removed. That stopped the attacks, but I still have pain there almost 10 months later. Health care system leaves much to be desired. Park rangers and camp host were great, though.
Me once, after a nasty bike wreck near Silverton, CO (long ambulance ride to Durango through the mountains). Had a mild concussion but released from hospital that night after testing and observation. Hubby once, bitten by a rattler while we were running trails in the Bighorn Mtns. Another long ambulance ride through the mountains, lots of antivenom injections, and an overnight stay in the hospital. Thank goodness for medical insurance that covered almost everything.
I checked no, but they’re was 1 probably should have. Did a face plant on pavement getting on my e bike, thinking I’d turned it off. Nope. Hit the throttle, it took off, hit a parking concrete thing. After the fact realized I broke the bone at my eyebrow. The cut bled pretty good for 24hrs. Had a camper friend put a couple butterfly strips on the split. Probably should have had stitches.