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!
Read this article by Gail Marsh about what happened when her husband had a heart attack at a Love’s Truck Stop during one of their RV trips. That happening wasn’t exactly in their plans! (And we are sooooo glad her husband is okay!)
Not yet, I have A-fib issues.
No, but one of our dogs did
Had a ruptured appendix. My wife drove the truck camper home while I was laid out in the cabover bed.
My wife had a stroke. All is good now.
My husband had a “widow maker” heart attack 2 weeks ago. With CPR and electric shock they brought him back. He is wearing a portable defribilator vest and is starting cardiac rehab. They placed one Stent. We are rearranging our plans and waiting to see what the future holds. We are full-time.
Wow Jeanette! Good luck to you both.
Hope it all works out for you both, best of luck!
Yikes! Hope the healing process goes well.
Wow! Good luck to you both, Jeanette. Reminds me of a longtime (60 years) friend of mine who had a heart attack driving down I-405 near Seattle on his way to the Wintergrass (Bluegrass) Festival a few years ago. Made it to the dock in the building where they were unloading equipment, and he knew the folks there. He got out of his vehicle, walked up to them and said, “I’m not feeling too good.” He keeled over and died. CPR brought him back, and after surgery he’s doing great. Getting wounded in Vietnam couldn’t stop him, so a heart attack wasn’t going to stop him, either. I hope your husband has a speedy recovery so you can get on the road again son.👍 Take care.🤗 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Thankfully we weren’t rving at the time, but I had open heart surgery this past January..Thank goodness for the great care that I received and the cardio rehab team who got me back up and moving again.
We just completed a 6 week rving trip around the western states, so you should have plenty of great times to look forward to. Hang in there and best wishes to you both!
Had heat stroke that mimicked a heart attack. Took myself to ER.
We borrowed my in-law’s popup in the 1990’s. Setting up in Sioux Falls, the crank gear ratchet slipped and the roof fell. The top-half of the door cut my wife’s hand and we headed for the ER. It was a painful mess and aborted the vacation. What nobody knew is it also injured her back. Several months later she had back surgery for a herniated disc – and arthritis in the area at this point in her life.
While hiking up Superstition Mountain my wife slipped on loose rock and went down on her knee and needed stitches. No a major catastrophe, we usually wander in our travels, making plans as the mood strikes us. We stayed an extra week at Lost Dutchman State Park taking it easy and enjoyed the area.
Traveled to my Great Nieces wedding in TX. Morning of the wedding, wife fell and broke her hip. Ambulance her to a major hosp 45 miles away. Placed 10” rod in her leg with screws. Stayed in the hospital one week, moved her to a rehab facility. Stayed another week. Started home, she had a mini stroke. Again, ambulance to a major treatment facility. Stayed for 8 days. Then drove on home.
No…but we have MASA just in case.
Thank you, RV Travel! 🙂 No, not emergency. I did develop sinusitis when we were in Decatur, Indiana getting service. I went to the urgent care center in the regional hospital and got checked and a prescribed decongestant for the problem. Thanks again, have a great day, safe travels, and safe stays! 🙂
Not a heart attack or anything along those lines. I had swelling from my left ear out into face area. I went to an express/urgent care that sent me to the ER. I ended up with 6 different of antibiotics by IV staying in ER 48 hours (after 12 hours transferred to another ER). There was no rooms so after 48 hours, they felt I was stable enough to leave seeing an ENT specialist next day. I ending up in surgery with infection in my skull bone behind my ear (mastoid) and 10 brain fluid breaches. UFHealth saved my life. We now doctor with UFHealth of Gainesville.
I actually fell out of the rv and broke my ankle. Dh took me to the emergency room. 4 hours later I had a walking cast.
When my husband Jim and I were camping near Silverton, CO 15 years ago I had a nasty mountain bike wreck on one of the gravel Natl. Forest Service Roads up the road from where our RV was parked. To this day, I don’t know what caused the wreck (most likely riding too fast around a curve above Mineral Creek). I have no memory until I was being loaded into an ambulance. Somehow I was able to give my husband’s phone number to the couple who first found me and called 911. Fortunately I was wearing a helmet (which was seriously damaged), didn’t land in the creek down a rocky embankment, and wasn’t run over by a vehicle. But I did sustain a mild TBI and some serious road rash.
This is something we’ve become more aware of in our travels, with us being in our 70s. Neither one of us have any serious health issues other than arthritis and see our family doctor quarterly complete with blood workups.
I’ve had to go to urgent care several times, including on monday when I had fallen taking out the garbage and fell on my wrist (that had already been broken when in the AF and needed surgery) that turned out to be a bad sprain. Never to the extent of calling an ambulance. As a solo traveler I joined FMCA for the medical assistance benefit. I’m still a member but I also have Medjet…just in case.
Wife fell and broke her hip. Resulted in a 2 hour ambulance ride with me bringing up the rear with the coach and car in tow. Negotiated with hospital security to park overnight upon arrival. Surgery was the next day and recovery was a total of 3 or 4 weeks. We were 2000 miles from from our son and his family. He flew in to help me drive the coach back to the site we had built in his yard so she could continue her recovery. Medicare + supplement covered everything. I found a nearby campground with room and willingness to take me on a week to week basis since I had no idea how long we would be. Our son learned to drive the coach as we went. His first turn at the wheel was on I 10 in Texas.