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Be Prepared in an International Emergency

Duke's International SOS program provides emergency aid for faculty, staff and students who travel outside the U.S. on Duke business.

Faculty, staff and students traveling outside of the U.S. are encouraged to register their travel and contact information prior to departure, and to print off and carry their International SOS wallet membership card while travelling.
Faculty, staff and students traveling outside of the U.S. are encouraged to register their travel and contact information prior to departure, and to print off and carry their International SOS wallet membership card while travelling.

On his first night in Korea for a conference, Duke professor Shai Ginsburg slipped in the hotel restroom and broke his right hip.

For help arranging everything from emergency surgery in Korea to a flight home 10 days later, he turned to Duke's travel assistance program, International SOS.

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"They sent an ER nurse from the U.S. to accompany me," Ginsburg said. "I was truly happy there was someone there to take care of my medication and help me get through the airport. It's more complicated than it seems."

All faculty, staff and students who travel overseas on Duke business are covered by International SOS through Duke. While arranging medical care is the mainstay of the service, International SOS is a central component of Duke's overall emergency management efforts and assists with security emergencies, including evacuation from a country.

During recent political unrest in Egypt and the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, International SOS helped identify the whereabouts of Duke community members. In Egypt, the service arranged a charter flight to evacuate a graduate student, although it wasn't used because she was able to find space on an earlier flight.

"The value of having a program like SOS is it gives you peace of mind," said Chris Boroski, director of Duke's Corporate Risk Management. "If something bad happens - medical, natural disaster or a revolution - we have resources that can help manage circumstances so we can have the best outcome possible."

International SOS provides a 24/7 global network of experts and multilingual representatives who connect clients with security and medical help, even routine health matters like finding a dentist and arranging payment - daunting tasks with a language barrier. "You generally can't pull out your Duke Select card overseas and say, `here you go,' " Boroski said.

Boroski cautioned that International SOS should not be confused with health insurance. While logistics arrangements or evacuation are covered expenses in emergencies, faculty, staff and students are still responsible for medical care costs. (For staff and faculty who travel often or live abroad, Duke Options health plan has a network of international hospitals).

Boroski serves as the point of contact at Duke for international medical and security emergencies. He notifies International SOS when someone needs help; community members on Duke business can also contact the service directly. He stressed the importance of registering travel and contact information with Duke prior to departure. While undergraduates are required to register, it's not mandatory for graduate students, faculty or staff.

When something goes wrong abroad, Boroski first checks Duke's online travel registry to see who from Duke is overseas. During incidents in Egypt, Libya and Japan, some Duke community members had not registered. "If I don't know you're there, I can't help you," Boroski said.

Boroski reminds students, faculty and staff traveling abroad on Duke business to carry their International SOS wallet ID card, which has 24/7 telephone numbers.

The membership card is available for printing using Duke NetID and password through j.mp/internationalsos.