Not all airport injuries happen during in-flight situations. It is possible in the course of travel for you to injure yourself on any number of items including your luggage, the escalator, a luggage carousel, or even a fellow traveler who may step on or jostle you.
You can receive assistance for medical issues at airports. Assistance will be provided by specially trained paramedics, airport police, 24/7 fire department staff or complete on-site clinics with nurses and doctors. Should you require hospitalization, transport to a local hospital should also be available. Availability of nurses and doctors will vary, however, and for non-critical issues such as stitches, and x-rays, you may need to head to an offsite facility or urgent care center.
If you are injured at the airport, here are some tips to help you speed up assistance response time and get the help you need:
- Ask for help; don’t assume that airport or airline staff will know you need assistance.
- Locate an airport courtesy or emergency phone. In most instances, the operator can connect you to or provide you with contact numbers for on-site emergency assistance.
- Do not call the airport’s main number. This will slow down assistance and you could waste valuable response time.