Getting sick on vacation happens more than most people realize: nearly 30% of Americans say they’ve gotten sick or injured on a trip, throwing their travel plans for a loop.
While there’s only so much you can do to lower the risk of getting sick on vacation, emergency room doctors say it’s important to be prepared for certain situations. “You don’t want to ruin a great vacation with some type of bad event that happens to you,” said Dr. Eric Adkins, an emergency medicine physician at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. “Sometimes you can prepare for simpler events. If you’re as prepared as you can be, hopefully you can still salvage your trip.”
There are some more obvious things to consider packing, like over-the-counter pain relievers and disposable bandages. But ER doctors tend to think beyond that, tossing essentials you might not think of in their bags for the just-in-case. With that in mind, we tapped four emergency room physicians for details on what they always reach for when it’s time to pack.
Anti-Nausea Medication
Several doctors we spoke to said they always have anti-nausea medication ready. “Always pack Zofran, just in case,” said Dr. Cedric Dark, associate professor of emergency medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. “The feeling of nausea and vomiting is one of the most hated things you could ever imagine and there’s nothing over-the-counter that is that helpful.”
