Our Paradise and Hell time in Jamaica

**beauty and Bear** · 03-20-2016, 06:29 AM

I'm confident that no ill intentions were meant and am absolutely sure that this accident has caused great physical pain and much mental distress. I feel for you both. Also, I'm pretty sure the intent was not to start a debate about North American healthcare...regardless of everyone's positions on such but more to alert all of us to the risks we face so that we can address them as we see fit for ourselves. I also think that this was reported here out of caring and compassion for their fellow Hedonites. I have seen this before as I have traveled all over the world to third worlds. I had back surgery in one of those places. The thing is that some of those "Private" hospitals are fantastic but others are no different then the swap meet over by Dunns River. But I have never seen a public hospital of ANY quality in such places. That's why Doctors Without Boarders is such a great charity. Just my humble opinion hope y'all get better real soon and have no lasting affects.
One Love,
Bear

**takemetonegril** · 03-20-2016, 06:43 AM

20 years old is way to young to die and I feel very badly for his family. It tragic that Jamaica has a great problem with their police forces, if you regularly read the Gleaner there is always a cop or constable being arrested for something. It's terrible that a bus load of tourists are endangered by a 20 year old (I was 20 once myself)police officer screwing around at high speed with another cop on a road full of tourists transports.

**L&I** · 03-20-2016, 07:15 AM

Pierre,

I am so sorry that your wonderful vacation was ruined by two jackasses who didn't have the good sense to obey the law that they have been tasked with enforcing.

The Jamaican public hospital system for the most part is tremendously overburdened as you experienced for yourself, and as a result, some enterprising sharks have stepped into fill the gaps. I know the hospital you went to - it is newly opened and operated by a Spanish firm that has no conscience because they know there is a tremendous gap in the health care system and that desperate visitors will pay through the nose for care that resembles what you expect at home.

There are several smaller privately run clinics with four to ten beds and operating rooms available that offer excellent care, but one has to know about them. My wife had an ectopic pregnancy a few years ago and went to her OBGYN at one of these clinics and went straight into surgery within 45 minutes of seeing her doctor for the pain. But one has to know about these places.....

For anyone who has a similar experience in the future and needs trauma / emergency care, and has concerns about insurance, insist on going to Cornwall Regional Hospital in MoBay for assessment / stabilizing, then try to get into the University Hospital in Kingston, or see a specialist in Montego Bay. Jamaica does have very good trauma / triage care in the larger public hospitals, and some PHENOMENAL specialists who have a medical encyclopedia's worth of knowledge and experience - I speak from personal experience.

I hope you have a speedy recovery and will come back to Paradise soon.

**Passion4Diving** · 03-20-2016, 09:29 AM

Looks like the "authorization" code to view it changes, perhaps daily. This works today:
http://proxy-42.dailymotion.com/vide...8e21#cell=core

Will look for other copies.

**suesbob** · 03-20-2016, 11:20 AM

I wasn't able to get either of the links to work for me. I searched dailymotion.com, and found this. Don't know if it is the same video, but it appears to be the same accident.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3x...r-jamaica_news

**happy2us** · 03-20-2016, 12:29 PM

Originally Posted by pierrrre

I apologized happy2us if I offended anybody with my American style hospital comment. I should have said "pay as you go" style hospital. I am not qualified to compare the quality of American hospital to Jamaican ones since I have never been in an American hospital. I have been to two types of Jamaican one though and I can tell you that the first one we went to was scary.

No, zero offense taken. I think your point was that the Jamaican hospital saw Canadian $ when they looked at you and were working to churn a transaction. U.S. hospitals are expensive but most doctors don't directly profit off of ordering you a CAT scan whereas it's entirely possible they do in Jamaica. And I think we can all agree the quality of care in the U.S. is somewhat heads and tails above Jamaica.

**CopNkitten** · 03-20-2016, 12:46 PM

Wow
I am glad it was not worse for you guys, sounds like it easily could have been.
Speedy recovery
Cop..

**Passion4Diving** · 03-20-2016, 01:28 PM

suesbob, yes, that is the video I was trying to uplink. Good find.

**funlover** · 03-20-2016, 09:16 PM

So sad and scary! I am sorry you had to go through this. Thank you for sharing and thanks L&I for the info on where to request to go.

**Wedo2** · 05-31-2016, 02:07 PM

...

**boatlover1995** · 05-31-2016, 04:06 PM

WOW!!!! Sorry to hear about your ordeal, but at least you two are both here to type/talk about it. We always try to see the glass "1/2 full!!!" How is the Mrs. cut, I'm assuming She required stitches, and hopefully there was no infections... We always take out trip insurance, even though it is only "in effect" for the time you are on vacation and on foreign soil, but it is a peace of mind, especially if something major should take place & medi-vac is necessary... And with my Wife being on the clumsy side, (She actually fell off the treadmill our last trip, and bruised her knee bone, and the conveyor pretty much belt sanded the skin off Her knee, yea, no safety cord attached!!!), it is a common practice for us, it even covers if by chance you need to cancel???

**wackoo22** · 06-07-2016, 11:57 AM

Sorry about your ordeal On our last trip to h2 wife had a illness and the hospitals would not take our insurance so we didn't go so I learned a less allways have trip insurance I was lerious of the hospitals in Jamaica anyway

**Bottoms Up Crew** · 06-07-2016, 12:17 PM

Originally Posted by pierrrre

Humm, this is another matter altogether. I know that there is Canadians with money going to the States to get really specialized kind of treatments that they can't get anywhere else but I also know that there is a huge black market for American crossing the border to get free treatments in Canada with all kind of illegitimate schemes (going from fake medical cards to fake marriages with willing Canadian). Cheap drug is just the tip of the iceberg. i.e. you have, let say, heart issue and need bypass surgery and do not have insurance like millions of Americans, or the thousands of dollars needed, what would you do? You are looking at death in the face. It is not a game anymore and the end justifies the means. Michael Moore made a very good documentary about this issue. The name of it is Sicko. You can watch it for free on youtube.

Sorry for your accident and it's great to hear y'all are ok but if you are listening to Michael Moore that is the first problem. I work with some guys that were born and raised in Canada and they say the health system sucks. Yes if you need heart surgery it is free but that's if you live long enough to get it. I think everyone has pros and cons about their own healthcare system. The only thing I would say is next time maybe you should leave out your political views on other countries

**buniff** · 06-07-2016, 01:39 PM

Not sure what part of Canada your friends are from, but where I spent 7 years (Quebec) it was fantastic. We just moved and hadnt had time to get our Medi cards. Our son steped off the back deck and broke his arm. We rushed him to the local clinic (Medi Center), and they sent him to the childrens hospital in Montreal because the break was so bad. They admitted him overnight after setting his arm. We never received a bill, collection notice or any phone call trying to collect from either medical center. In 7 years there, with 2 small children, there were numerous visits to the Medi Center. With no appointment we never had to wait more than 20 minutes and that was with the waiting room full (15-20 people). If you had an appointment, you didn't have time to sit down before you were called.

As far as wait times, that is pure propaganda from our U.S. healthcare providers. Statistics from Heath Canada show surgical wait times no longer than in the U.S.. For medical testing, MRI's, CT Scan, ect., the wait is slightly longer, 1.2 days longer than in the U.S. They simply have fewer because of the expense. There are no death committees. Your well being is the driving factor. My mother in law, who lives in Montreal, had breast cancer 3 years back. They operated on her within the week of diagnosis, she went through both chemo and radiation treatments immediately. There were no delays, or waits. There was also NO BILL OR CO-PAY of any kind. She and her boyfriend went to Florida to celebrate the end of chemo and radiation treatment. A few day after arriving, he was having difficulty breathing and went to the local DR in a Box. They immediately had him transported by EMS to the hospital (they thought he was having a heart attack). After 26 hours in the hospital it ended up being a upper respiratory infection. With Travelers insurance he is still getting bills. So far the bills are $60,000.

So as someone who has dealt with both. Canadian healthcare is far better than here. Here the #1 cause of bankruptcies is healthcare dept. To choose between waiting an extra day or declaring bankruptcy, I'll wait a day. Currently we (my wife and I) are paying $1400 a month for crappy, really crappy health insurance with a high deductible. We would be over $30,000 out of pocket a year before the insurance kicks in if we both get sick, $26,000 if just one. That is the cheapest thing we can get. To get a good plan would cost us $2,500 a month with slightly lower deductible.

I am a U.S. Citizen and our healthcare system is broken.

**Gibby** · 06-07-2016, 02:14 PM

Originally Posted by buniff

Not sure what part of Canada your friends are from, but where I spent 7 years (Quebec) it was fantastic. We just moved and hadnt had time to get our Medi cards. Our son steped off the back deck and broke his arm. We rushed him to the local clinic (Medi Center), and they sent him to the childrens hospital in Montreal because the break was so bad. They admitted him overnight after setting his arm. We never received a bill, collection notice or any phone call trying to collect from either medical center. In 7 years there, with 2 small children, there were numerous visits to the Medi Center. With no appointment we never had to wait more than 20 minutes and that was with the waiting room full (15-20 people). If you had an appointment, you didn't have time to sit down before you were called.

As far as wait times, that is pure propaganda from our U.S. healthcare providers. Statistics from Heath Canada show surgical wait times no longer than in the U.S.. For medical testing, MRI's, CT Scan, ect., the wait is slightly longer, 1.2 days longer than in the U.S. They simply have fewer because of the expense. There are no death committees. Your well being is the driving factor. My mother in law, who lives in Montreal, had breast cancer 3 years back. They operated on her within the week of diagnosis, she went through both chemo and radiation treatments immediately. There were no delays, or waits. There was also NO BILL OR CO-PAY of any kind. She and her boyfriend went to Florida to celebrate the end of chemo and radiation treatment. A few day after arriving, he was having difficulty breathing and went to the local DR in a Box. They immediately had him transported by EMS to the hospital (they thought he was having a heart attack). After 26 hours in the hospital it ended up being a upper respiratory infection. With Travelers insurance he is still getting bills. So far the bills are $60,000.

So as someone who has dealt with both. Canadian healthcare is far better than here. Here the #1 cause of bankruptcies is healthcare dept. To choose between waiting an extra day or declaring bankruptcy, I'll wait a day. Currently we (my wife and I) are paying $1400 a month for crappy, really crappy health insurance with a high deductible. We would be over $30,000 out of pocket a year before the insurance kicks in if we both get sick, $26,000 if just one. That is the cheapest thing we can get. To get a good plan would cost us $2,500 a month with slightly lower deductible.

I am a U.S. Citizen and our healthcare system is broken.

AAAAAMEEEEEEENNNNNN to that.