Over the weekend, the conditions for travelers in Turkey quickly became frightening. Since the attempted coup of Turkey’s President Erdogan began last Friday, almost 300 have died, many more were wounded and thousands have been arrested. That night, chaos and violence filled the streets of the country’s largest city, Istanbul, as they did in Turkey’s capital, Ankara, and other cities in the country.
I’d bet that many, if not most, travelers in Turkey this past weekend were totally unprepared for the civil bedlam and mass protests which are still on-going, as of yesterday.
By the following morning, the U.S. State Department issued a travel warning about travel to Turkey. For U.S. citizens already there, the warning was particularly worrisome. It explained that all airlines were prohibited, at that time, from flying into the United States from Turkey, either directly or indirectly.
Some flights in and out of Turkey have since resumed, but on Saturday no one knew when that would happen. At that moment, travelers in Turkey were essentially trapped. No one knew how long it might take before travel within Turkey would be safe, or when it might be possible to return home. Many travelers desperate to get home are still waiting to leave.
It’s possible to be prepared for emergencies when you travel. International travel planning takes real effort, and even if you’re prepared, in any emergency your common sense will still be key to keeping you and your companions, if any, safe and reduce your danger in the face of public violence.
There are three planning steps for emergencies every international traveler should fulfill prior to their journey.
The first step is to do detailed research on each of your trip’s destinations. Ensure you know about all security and crime issues at your destinations. U.S. citizens can begin their research at the U.S. State Department Country Specific Information Pages. Don’t miss their alerts and warnings, which are linked there. Other countries have excellent advisory information, too. Travel websites specializing in specific countries can be a great source of information.
The second “step” is to ensure you have a method of real-time, in-country monitoring of conditions at your destinations. For U.S. citizens, this is most easily accomplished by enrolling in the U.S. State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). STEP is a free program allowing U.S. citizens and nationals to send the details of their international trips to the U.S. State Department, including where they’re traveling, lodging and how they can be contacted while on their journey. Enrollment is totally online.
STEP has three major benefits:
• Enrollees receive destination information alerts and warnings from the U.S. State Department about safety and health conditions prior to leaving the U.S. and while traveling.
• Enrollee information permits U.S. embassies to contact you in the event of an emergency of any kind to give you information and assistance.
• Enrollee information helps U.S. embassies facilitate family and friends to contact you in an emergency.
I had friends trapped in Patagonia, in southern Chile, in 2011. Patagonian citizens across the region were protesting large increases in fuel prices. They halted travel across the region via road blocks and many of their protests became violent. Behind the scenes, the U.S. State Department arranged to evacuate U.S. citizens from the area. Their primary method of finding and communicating with U.S. nationals was through STEP.
Citizens of other countries without similar programs should contact their embassies at their destinations to give them their contact information in case of emergency.
Every traveler should have detailed embassy and consulate contact and location information for each destination country visited, including embassy 24/7 emergency hotlines, before departing on their trip.
The third step travelers should fulfill when planning their journey is to ensure their medical and insurance needs are met.
Travelers should check that their medical and travel insurance policies are fully in effect and applicable to all their destinations. Travelers should have full awareness of health conditions at their destinations and know where they can obtain competent health care while there.
Be aware that many, if not most, travel insurance policies, exclude war, civil war, declared or undeclared, and civil unrest from covered events. A few policies do include coverage for “political evacuation.”
U.S. senior citizens who rely on Medicare must obtain travel medical insurance coverage for their journey, as Medicare doesn’t offer coverage outside the U.S.
Most travelers on lengthy trips should bring a supply of all their necessary prescription and over-the-counter medications for the entire length of their journey, plus at least an extra two-week supply in case of delays due to emergency conditions. Travelers should consult with their physician to find out what emergency medications they should take with them for the destinations they’re planning to visit.
Regular prescription and emergency medications, as well as important over-the-counter drugs, should be included in a first-aid kit every traveler should carry with them at all times. Copies of each prescription should also be taken on the trip for documentation purposes.
Necessary preventative shots and vaccinations should be researched and obtained for each destination to be visited.
If you follow the three steps discussed above, you’ll be able to better help yourself if an emergency at your destination develops. In an emergency, if your country’s embassy contacts you, follow their procedures and protocols precisely to ensure your safety.
(Image: Hagia Sophia, a former Christian patriarchal basilica, later an imperial mosque, and now a museum (Ayasofya Müzesi) in Istanbul, Turkey, built from 537 until 1453. Copyright © 2016 NSL Photography. All Rights Reserved.)
After many years working in corporate America as a chemical engineer, executive and eventually CFO of a multinational manufacturer, Ned founded a tech consulting company and later restarted NSL Photography, his photography business. Before entering the corporate world, Ned worked as a Public Health Engineer for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. As a well known corporate, travel and wildlife photographer, Ned travels the world writing about travel and photography, as well as running photography workshops, seminars and photowalks. Visit Ned’s Photography Blog and Galleries.
