Leaders get inside look into complexities of international travel incident response

On a campus where global health merits and contributions are growing by the year, Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) leaders are taking extra steps to strengthen the University’s crisis preparedness for faculty, staff and students who represent the school when traveling abroad.

MUSC leaders gathered on June 7 with representatives from International SOS, the University’s travel, health and security assistance provider, to conduct a simulation exercise on the University’s emergency response plan for when faculty, staff and students travel abroad. The half-day simulation was organized by the MUSC Center for Global Health.

The exercise, led by Henning Snyman, the South Atlantic security director for International SOS, presented deans and other leaders with an opportunity to review current policy and action plans against an array of scenarios that could potentially happen, with hundreds of MUSC representatives traversing the globe every year. Snyman said his simulation fosters discussion on a host of challenging scenarios, which helps to create muscle memory, so leaders are ready if or when an incident occurs.

“We can’t stop everything from happening, so it’s all about the preparation,” said Snyman, a native of South Africa. 

Source: International SOS

MUSC partners with International SOS to provide the highest level possible of services to all faculty, staff, students and trainees while abroad for University-affiliated purposes. The coverage, which is free of charge to travelers, offers medical assistance, emotional and mental health support, security advice and travel assistance via phone or through the provider’s mobile app. International SOS has 26 assistance centers that span the globe to ensure that no matter the time zone of the affected traveler, support will always be available.

All MUSC faculty, staff and students are required to submit their University-affiliated international travel plans through the MUSC travel registry, a confidential and secure database that ensures University officials can locate and communicate with travelers when abroad. The registry is one piece of the University’s overall international travel policy, which was last updated in 2022.

Lisa Saladin, PT, Ph.D., executive vice president for Academic Affairs and provost, said travel registration provides individuals with access to the full breadth of International SOS resources while providing MUSC staff with critical emergency contact information, which helps to expedite response times in the event of a crisis.

“No matter how prepared an individual feels, unfortunate incidents that require medical, travel or security assistance can and do happen while traveling,” Saladin said. “Travel registration only takes five minutes. It’s important that MUSC employees are familiar with the vast predeparture and in-country resources available through our University’s international travel assistance program, which is available to them free of charge.”

Much of the conversation during the simulation exercise focused on what the University’s duty of care is in providing support and assistance to its travelers, however, Snyman was keen to also note that travelers also have a duty of loyalty to MUSC as well.

“A duty of loyalty means that as much as MUSC has an obligation of duty of care, the travelers have duty of loyalty toward the organization, their fellow travelers as well as the reputation of the organization,” he said. “They must know, ‘My actions can put other people as risk; it can put the institution at risk and myself as well.’”

Snyman said of the scenarios presented, road traffic accidents are what his organization deals with most frequently.

“No matter how prepared an individual feels, unfortunate incidents that require medical, travel or security assistance can and do happen while traveling,” Saladin said. “Travel registration only takes five minutes."

“Most of the trauma cases our doctors deal with are traffic accidents, and that’s globally speaking,” he said. “The roads aren’t in great condition, and then the standards of driving are not great.
“The moment you get on the road, your risk profile goes up.”

Other scenarios presented by Snyman ranged from individuals suffering with a personal illness or injury and how they would navigate seeking care through free resources provided by International SOS, to responding to situations when students fail to check in with faculty leaders, and increasingly dangerous situations where individuals need evacuation from a country due to geopolitical turmoil. All scenarios prompted discussion among leaders on how the University would aid the individuals affected and how best to resolve the situation.

Coming out of the simulation exercise, leaders agreed to enhance their efforts to boost awareness among faculty, staff and students about the requirements and benefits of registering international travel prior to their trips. University staff will also continue to provide education and training to ensure travelers are aware of the services provided by International SOS and that they understand how to access the resources.

Those traveling abroad on behalf of MUSC are encouraged to download the International SOS Assistance App, which is available via the App Store and Google Play. For more information about MUSC’s International Travel Assistance Program, please visit the Center for Global Health website.