An assistance provider like International SOS has its own repatriation capabilities.
Ebola and coronavirus recently, SARS further away: epidemics come one after the other and weigh heavily on business travel. Of course, they put travellers' health at risk, but they also make the logistics of accompanying them difficult. "The risk of a business traveller contracting the Ebola virus, transmitted by contact, was minute. But with over-stretched hospitals, if a medical problem other than Ebola occurs and the traveller is forced to go to hospital, a twofold problem arises. Firstly, because there is a risk of contamination, but also because it is difficult to evacuate a patient suspected of having the virus."says Cosme Desgrée du Loû, from International SOS.
Pandemics may attract a lot of media attention, but the main problems affecting business travellers are not specific to sensitive areas. They are part of everyday life, from road accidents to cardiovascular disease and infections. These more or less serious problems are the daily lot of assistance providers. In France, the Syndicat National des Sociétés d'Assistance (SNSA) groups together ten players, most of them subsidiaries of major insurers, which together make up 97 % of the market: ACTA, AXA Assistance, Europ Assistance, Fidelia Assistance, Filassistance, Garantie Assistance, Inter Mutuelles Assistance, Mondial Assistance, Mutuaide Assistance and Opteven. Through their contracts - for example, the Entreprise Affaires and Mission Pro solutions from Mondial Assistance or the Intégral entreprise, Expatriation, Missions and Pluriel pro passes from Europ Assistance - these players provide on-site care and organise medical repatriation if necessary.
With its 35 telephone platforms and 44 subsidiaries around the world, Europ Assistance is active in over 200 countries. International SOS also has its own medical centres and dedicated evacuation resources. "We operate in the most politically sensitive countries, such as Somalia, because we have a clinic in Mogadishu. But we also provide support for prospecting teams in remote areas, with integrated staff on oil platforms or mining sites.It's all about prevention", explains Arnaud Derossi, Medical Director Assistance and Aviation EMEA at International SOS. His company is now focusing on prevention through e-learning sessions on car accidents and malaria, a disease that affects 10,000 travellers every year according to the WHO. This prevention aspect also includes health checks focused on travel. Because for someone with cardiovascular risks or chronic illnesses, there is a difference between being able to work in your office in Paris and enduring a long trip to countries where the level of care is limited. Taking into account the costs generated by a medical problem abroad and employee absenteeism, International SOS has calculated a "return" of 1.3 to 2.3 euros for every euro invested in prevention.
