preparing for emergencies overseas
 

I'm looking for general guidance on preparing for emergencies for international travel.

1. I've been told to always keep with me the telephone # of the U.S embassy and state department.
2. I've been told to keep photocopies of my drivers license and passport. Other than my wallet, what other locations should I keep a copy?
3. Its probably best to take a 2nd ATM and 2nd credit card as a backup, but where should I store my backup cards?
4. In case of theft, is it a good idea to keep some spare cash in my shoe or are those money belts a better option?
5. Keep a record of international telephone numbers of my credit cards in case I have to report them lost or stolen.
6. make sure I'm covered under my medical insurance when I'm overseas
7 Ask my Dr. for an antibiotic prescription before leaving in case I get sick

Is there anything else I should prepare?

Depends where you are going. Afghanistan you would be woeful under prepared, UK you would be wasting time on things you don't need.

Point 6. That is essential.

Aside from the antibiotics. Unless you are going somewhere where you will not be able to get to a doctor for an extended period of time I would not take prescription medicines as these are by their nature only things a doctor can prescribe.

We are in sever danger in the near future of many bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics and when that happens it will be a major catastrophe. In the US I know that you use antibiotics as grow promoters for chickens which is utter utter madness.

1/ Make sure you get the emergency phone number of the consulate, not just the switchdesk.
2/ Scan them as well and email them to yourself. Depending on country, hardcopies might be useful forcarrying them around instead of original. Online copies are useful if you lose everithing and need replacement.

2. Scan a copy and put it on the cloud or email it to yourself.

5. Yes. And keep it on the cloud or email it to yourself.

7. Not every antibiotic is good for everything, so a random antibiotic just in case you get sick is pretty worthless. That being said I will give patients going to developing countries an antibiotic for travelers diarrhea.

As mentioned previously it depends on the location. Here's my general approach in most places:

I carry on my person at all times my passport, enough cash to get to the nearest major airport by taxi and credit/debit cards with sufficient room to get me a walk-on flight home. If I have to go home on the spot I don't need to go back to my hotel room or stop for any reason.

In my hotel room safe are a spare debit and credit card, some additional cash and copies of my passport and DL. If I'm in transit they go into a compartment of my personal item carry-on or into a neoprene ankle wallet that I use in rougher places.

All of the relevant local numbers are written down and on my smart phone.

Medical insurance is in place and while I might have antibiotics I've never needed to use them despite many trips to developing countries. YMMV.

Point 6. Read carefully all Travel insurance exclusions. I know people that were not covered by Travel medical insurance because the accident happened under a circumstance not covered by the travel insurance policy (e.g. many "extreme" sports are usually not covered! the clearest example is Skiing which is not covered by many EU travel insurance policies, except if you buy a specific coverage for an extra.) Antoher example: if you drive a motorbike >100 cc.

Furthermore consider that often some Insurance companies provide stand-by payment procedure: first you pay then they reimburse you, except if amount is particularly high where they usually provide direct payment. In particular when you have the right to choose the hospital (choice that frankly I consider essential!)

Also depending on your destination, consider emergency medical evacuation and read exactly what it covers. Some policies only cover evacuation to the nearest hospital which can adequately treat the condition, others may cover evacuation to the nearest home country hospital (which is not particularly helpful if that is NYC and you live in Los Angeles), and others will get you home. Bear in mind that this is not just for the sick & elderly.

Finally, bear in mind that you will likely need to lay out cash for treatment overseas and then recoup from your insurance. Billing systems and coding don't speak to each other and this can be a big issue. This doesn't mean traveling with massive amounts of cash. But, it does suggest that you have someone back home with your power of attorney to access bank accounts and wire transfer money.

As others note, there are no generic answers to the question. I would not worry about locating a broad spectrum antibiotic in London (and it may be useless for your condition).

That is a great idea, especially if traveling in an area that is unstable.

I do something similar, including keeping enough local cash to survive for a day or so if the banking network goes down. (This has happened to me, for example in Mexico City and Norway.) I always have a charge card or credit card with me on which I can buy a full fare ticket home if really needed. To me, it's reassuring to know that my cards come with some emergency services. Basically, I want to be able to evacuate myself if necessary.

IMO, perhaps the most important thing is to be aware of the risks for your itinerary. Pay attention to any expected polical demonstrations/uprisings, anticipated big crowds or really bad traffic jams (don't unknowingly try to drive north on the autoroute to Paris on August 31st with only a quarter tank of gas), epidemics, weather hazards (when is tornado/hurricane season and how is information communicated?), food and water safety standards, crime levels, special local risks, etc. For example, I'm shocked when people go hiking away from home without any idea whether there are poisonous snakes in the area and how to recognize and avoid them. The same can be said for arriving without hotel reservations into a city that is obviously and predictably sold out.

Bring multiple cards with you and store at least 1-2 of them separately. That also means you don't bring all of them out with you during the day in your wallet. Leave a few behind in the hotel room.

If you're the typical Flyertalker- you have more cards than you can remember in your head, so lay them all down and make a copy. Or scan, whatever.

And lastly, it's smart to be prepared, but if you're traveling in first-world countries, actually needing any of this is a pretty rare event. Don't worry too much and enjoy your trip!

edit- One thing that is nice to have is a US Passport card, in addition to your passport. It greatly expedites getting an emergency replacement at a US Consulate. Don't carry it with the passport though! A lost passport is more inconvenient and expensive rather than a crisis.

Enter the destination country and read everything under Expand All. It might give a bit more direction.

http://travel.state.gov/content/travel/english.html

CC issuers accept collect calls from overseas (to report losing one--or for other issues), but the 800 number probably won't work. On the reverse of any CC I have is their NON-toll free number).
So Xeroxing BOTH the front and back of any CCs you are taking with you could come in handy. [Making an extra copy or two--keeping these in your carry-on stuff and elsewhere, should be helpful in case of an emergency.]

A lot of it also depends whether you're traveling personally, or for employer's business......Let them keep a copy in office, or with your director/HR, etc as employee record.

-Keep a paper copy with a relative/family member in the US(or wherever you're from). In case you lose email account due to password issue, etc, you'd want a paper copy stashed somewhere.
-Not sure about you, but I have my D/L number memorized, and also know my citizenship number. As long as I know them, I'm good.
-Cash is king in many other countries.
-Phone numbers of banks are always available online, not really needed to keep somewhere, if u can, it would be ok.
-Keep in mind the expiry dates of medicines when u obtain prescriptions.
-Often times its cheaper to obtain insurance abroad....US companies make it difficult to reimbursements sometimes.
- An important thing is also to keep a copy of 'confirmation of employment' with you.

Assuming you have a smartphone of some description, take a photo of the photo and details page of your passport with its camera.

You can also consider registering for STEP - https://step.state.gov/STEPMobile/default.html