The coronavirus pandemic has changed the face of travel as we knew it - and emerging from the crisis will arguably not be an easy task.
In the view of Dan Richards, CEO of Global Rescue, a travel risk and crisis response company, the first step in the travel industry's incremental return to business "is for operators and agents to make certain they have an emergency action plan and safety protocols in place."
It is imperative that tour operators and agents make certain that pre-trip protocol "includes secure collection of traveler history and health information and having COVID-19-based destination reports in hand," Richards said. "Finally, agents and operators have to have response mechanisms in place for emergency medical assistance, field rescue from point of injury or illness, global telehealth access, quarantine and isolation capabilities, and ground and air transport/evacuation."
Global Rescue provides its members with medical, security, travel risk and crisis management services delivered by critical care paramedics, physicians, nurses and military special operations veterans.
"Nine out of 10 of our members said they would provide their 14-day travel history and 75 percent would disclose their medical conditions related to a compromised immune systems if it meant they could return to travel," Richards said, adding that the company has the capability to facilitate these protocols for agents and operators.
Its integrated travel risk and crisis management solutions are supported by the Global Rescue Intelligence Delivery system, a proprietary traveler tracking, intelligence and journey management platform that "keeps track of individuals through smartphone GPS and automatically alerts them if there's a dangerous development within their current destination," he said.
In terms of virus screening and emergency medical assistance, Richards noted that "more than 90 percent of our members said they would undergo coronavirus screening and testing as a condition of future travel."
He added, "Global Rescue facilitates screening procedures, provides COVID-19 case management services, and delivers emergency medical assistance, medical and security advisory and evacuation, worldwide field rescue from point of injury or illness, and global telehealth access."
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