Medical assistance
We offer worldwide, first class service, medical assistance designed to cater for the needs of tour operators, corporate travel suppliers, and specialist travel agents dealing with travel to remote and hostile locations.
Whatever the challenge, or wherever it occurs, our 24/7 multilingual contact centre handles every case compassionately, quickly and effectively. Every year we successfully complete more than 4,000 transportations around the world.
As an insurer in our own right, we can combine our assistance expertise with our ability to underwrite all or part of the risk associated with medical or repatriation expenses. Our comprehensive in-house knowledge base of medical costs in different parts of the world allows us to exercise strict control in preventing over treatment, over-billing and other errors.
The breadth of our network of preferred suppliers means we consistently deliver significant reductions to the cost of medical treatment.
Expatriate services and remote location medical support
Our Emergency Medical Care unit draws up and applies medical standards for companies and their sub contractors operating in countries and regions that have poor medical resources. We can also formulate an international health strategy to support all the operations an organisation undertakes abroad.
Related services include:
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site health audits; identification of risks; audit of existing facilities; analysis of local regulations; drafting of emergency response plans; procedures for medical services
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first aid training; provision of first aid kits; specialist training courses
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the set up and management of full 24 hour medical services including the supply of medical equipment, ambulances, medical personnel and protocols
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intensive care units and clinics meeting international standards
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delegated 24 hour management of private medical units at on/off-shore sites.
Medical assessment
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A team of highly qualified medical staff, supported by tailored software, operate a specialised AXA Assistance help line that assesses the fitness to travel of callers with pre-existing medical conditions, and advises them accordingly.
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Accurate assessment of these risks enables travel insurers to benefit from reduced claims costs.
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An invaluable service for organisations responsible for the wellbeing of their clients, employees, or members travelling abroad.
Emergency evacuations
The world can be a hostile place and AXA Assistance carries out in excess of 30 emergency evacuations a year. Many of these take place in extremely remote locations, and we have up to date evacuation plans for hostile countries worldwide.
Our international network of offices and multilingual staff are uniquely placed to work closely with local hospitals, monitor the appropriateness of treatment and arrange emergency evacuation repatriation if necessary.
Repatriation
In addition to emergency repatriation, AXA Assistance completes more than 600 medically escorted repatriations to the UK every year. We can arrange any type of repatriation from anywhere in the world, ranging from straightforward nurse-escorted repatriations, to full intensive-care repatriation by air ambulances.
Crisis management
The AXA Assistance Group takes the ability to manage crises effectively very seriously. We conduct crisis management exercises throughout the group to prove our readiness in the face of any type of disaster. Our crisis management skills and procedures have been invaluable at disaster sites around the world:
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2007: AXA Assistance treat more than 200 patients during an serious epidemic in the Dominican Republic.
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2006: An AXA emergency crisis contact centre set up during the Lebanon evacuation with 2,000 patients assisted.
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2006: An AXA team evacuate 80 injured and 8 dead following a bus crash in Pedrezuela, Spain.
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2004: The AXA Assistance office in Sydney deals with many tsunami cases and supplies an on-site medical team to assess the needs of victims on the ground within 48 hours of the disaster.
The effective and speedy management of these challenging situations and our exceptional emergency incident management procedures has received international praise.
We pride ourselves on the speed of our reaction to global health issues such as the Asia tsunami, and more recently swine flu.
AXA Assistance also supports its clients with contingency planning for major national and international events, most recently for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Travel assistance and concierge services
Outsourcing travel assistance and concierge services to AXA Assistance gives your customers access to practical help with any kind of travel emergency that your customers might encounter anywhere in the world 24 hours a day. One call to us gives your customers access to a comprehensive range of emergency services including:
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advance of urgent funds
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assistance with lost travel documents
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organising alternative travel arrangements
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baggage tracing and delivery
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forwarding of essential medication
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urgent message relay.
Travel advice
AXA Assistance's trained and qualified personnel are available 24 hours a day to give immediate practical advice and professional attention anywhere in the world. We can help prior to, or during, a holiday or business trip with:
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practical information about intended destinations
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currency requirements
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visa requirements
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embassy and consulate details
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local medical facilities
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vaccinations
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cultural information.
Your customers also benefit from access to up-to-the-minute online security advice about regions affected by political unrest.
Medical research
AXA Assistance has extensive research programmes that support clients whose customers visit or work in remote and often hostile locations. This research is mainly carried out for media partners and charitable organisations whose people work in these locations. Our research includes details of small local clinics, and specialised evacuation plans.
