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Safety... a
testimonial...
January,
2007
Dear
Island Expeditions Staff,
In
January 2005, my husband Barry and I took your Coral Jaguar Expedition. We had a wonderful time and were so impressed with the organization
and careful planning by all the staff in your company. Our guides,
Jolie and Drew were so well prepared and informed that we were totally
comfortable putting our safety and ourselves in their capable hands.
This
year we traveled to Thailand and went trekking in the North. I want
to relay our experience with another company.
We
signed up for a three-day, two-night trek. We happily started off
and enjoyed our Thai Guide (1 guide for 10 trekkers). Near the end
of the second day of our trek, I had a fall and broke my leg. It
was not a major fall, just one of those unlucky steps. I had a spiral
fracture of both the tibia and fibula. I knew immediately that my
leg was broken. As I lay on the ground, in the jungle, looking at
my guides shocked face, I knew he had no idea how to handle the
situation.
We
were very fortunate to have a 5th year medical student among the
trekkers in our group. She took charge of finding material to splint
my leg and she had painkillers in her first aid kit. We were woefully
unprepared for such an accident. Our guide ran to the nearby village
to get help. We had no radio and his first aid kit was as inadequate
as ours (Band-Aids, antiseptic, gauze, tape, etc.) After about 40min.
he reappeared with about 12 villagers and they set about the task
of getting me out of the jungle. They lashed a sleeping bag and
hammock to two bamboo rods. I scooted onto the litter and they began
the long hike out with me hanging in the sling. 6 men, our guide,
the medical student and my husband went with me while the villagers
took the rest of our group down to their village. It was a long
(about 1 hr.) and painful journey to the road and another three
hours to the hospital in Chaing Mai. The trekking company was very
helpful in helping to get us back to Canada and were extremely concerned
for our well being.
I am
writing this to let you know how much we appreciate the thoroughness
we realize goes into each of your trips. We were remembering our
Island Expeditions guides radioing in our position and safety each
night as the sun set. We remembered a conversation we had with Jolie
and Drew asking them about how they would handle emergencies. We
realized that it would be very difficult to get out of some of the
remote places we visited, but they had a plan that was comforting.
Although we didn't ask what was in those huge first aid kits, I
can imagine that there are splints and other items you would need
to stabilize a broken limb or treat more serious injuries.
After
this experience, we will ask a lot of questions of any company we
decide to travel with regarding safety procedures and qualifications
of the guides. These are things we never really considered before
this accident. You just never think anything like this will happen
to you.
I just
wanted to let you know that in hind sight, we appreciate the professional
care and consideration we were given by your company and to encourage
you to keep up the good work!
Sincerely,
Karen
Anderson
Victoria, BC
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