It is every traveler’s worst nightmare, falling seriously ill in a strange location with no access to competent medical care. That was the situation for a businessman recently in Aden Yemen who found himself near death from a post-surgical infection and internal bleeding.  Two local men were bringing him to a hotel room before searching for emergency medical care.

GardaWorld Director of Emerging Markets Joe Hogan happened to be in the hotel lobby preparing for a client meeting and witnessed the man’s dilemma. Immediately responding with his medical training, Joe improvised a saline IV line using a simple coat-hanger nailed into the hotel room wall above the bed and soon had the patient stabilized sufficiently to relocate him to a medical facility in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital some 400 kilometers away.

“The gentleman was severely ill and might have died had I not happened upon the scene,” Joe recalled, stressing the importance of good medical care when traveling in areas lacking in medical facilities.

GardaWorld routinely incorporates emergency medical response and care capabilities into the planning process for its clients.