A Look at the Dangers of Heat and Snakes, and Travel Medicine in Croatia

As outlined in my post Health Tourism 101, travel medicine is the area of medicine that deals with travellers or tourists, and the specific ailments which can afflict them whether it be something general, which could otherwise happen at home, such as the common cold, or more serious conditions like a heart attack, but it also deals with problems which can be specific to a region, infectious diseases endemic to certain areas such as malaria and other tropical infectious diseases, or in Croatia, it could be, the focus of this post, something like heat stroke or a snake bite.

Travel medicine isn’t exactly a medical specialty, the doctors who partake in travel medicine are for the most part general practitioners in offices, or emergency medicine or other specialists in emergency clinics or hospitals, as needed. In Croatia, because of the amount of tourists which visit, doubling, tripling, quadrupling, or even quintupling the population of some towns or cities, especially along the coast, apart from general practices, emergency clinics, and hospitals taking care of sick tourists, many places set up additional tourist clinics to help out and relieve what would otherwise be an unbearable strain on the services which normally service the local population. Tourist clinics are usually out of the public healthcare system, which means local healthcare insurance or the European Health Insurance Card are not accepted, and services must be paid for. Luckily, services are usually reimbursed by healthcare insurance (with some administration, of course).

Naturally, the best thing to do is avoid getting sick, besides ruining your trip, and the cost, tourist clinics are generally extremely busy, and you can expect a good wait time. General practices and hospitals aren’t much better. Still, if you get sick, you have no choice. The most common problems tourists come with are common colds, ear pain after swimming, scrapes and cuts from slipping or falling at the beach, and stepping on sea urchins. Ear pain usually occurs after swimming due to build up ear wax which expands with seawater, it’s not dangerous, all that is required is a good rinsing of the ear canal. Stepping on a sea urchin doesn’t really require medical attention, the spikes left behind might be uncomfortable or even painful, but they will come out on their own, usually an ointment is recommended, but no doctor or nurse is going to take out the spikes one by one for you. Naturally, there are more serious cases, heart attacks, strokes, and the like, but this is usually directed to emergency services and hospital.

Every year there are also warnings, and most Croatian people are aware of the dangers of heat exhaustion and stroke, as well as venomous snake bites, the problem is foreign tourists are misinformed, or completely oblivious to these dangers, and do not take the necessary precautions. Temperatures on the coast in Croatia over summer can reach highs of over 40 ° C, with excessive heat, dehydration due to sweating and inadequate fluid intake, and physical activity such as swimming or other seaside sports, every year a number of tourists overdo it and develop heat exhaustion or even heat stroke. Local Croatians on the coast know to avoid going outside during the day between 10 and 16, taking care of errands, and swimming in the morning and afternoon, respectively. For most tourists, however, this is prime beach time, for sunbathing and swimming. This is understandable, but in that case, precautions should be taken, adequate sun screen should be applied, shade should be sought out, and plenty of fluids should be taken. Any signs of heat exhaustion or stroke — feeling really hot, red skin, headache, dizziness, or confusion — should be met with going indoors, taking cold fluids, cooling the body down with cold water, and seeking medical attention if needed. Usually people recover from bouts of heat exhaustion or stroke, but for some unfortunate people it could be fatal, so it is not something to joke around about.

Snakes are another possible danger, because the landscape along the coast is somewhat mountainous, rocky, and of course, nice and hot, a number of snakes have made Croatia their home. The majority of snakes are harmless, but there are three types of snakes in Croatia which are venomous and could prove fatal if they attack and manage to bite — Common Adder (cro. Riđovka), Karst Meadow Viper (cro. Planinski žutokrug), and the infamous Nose-Horned Viper (cro. Poskok), find a good post describing what these snakes look like on CroatiaWeek. Again, the best thing to do is avoid getting, in this case, bitten, to begin with. This is easily achieved if you avoid risky areas where you might find one of these snakes — uninhabited, rocky, and hot areas. It is also a good idea not to go walking or hiking in these types of areas alone, and to wear appropriate clothing — long pants, socks, and shoes, not shorts, and flip flops, which comes from a common story among locals of how a tourist was a smart cookie and was bit while hiking basically bare foot in flip flops. If you do get bit, the best thing to do is, firstly, get yourself away from the snake, remember what it looked like, then just stay still and calm, and call for help, the emergency services in Croatia can be reached at 112. It is not recommended to do anything you would have seen in the movies, like tying off the blood vessels, cutting the wound, trying to suck out the venom, or the like, this could spread the venom more. Removing tight clothing or jewelry is a good idea before possible swelling sets in. Once under the care of a doctor, you will be monitored, and antivenom may be administered if deemed necessary, although this is sometimes met with its own negative reaction.

Getting sick at home is a drag, but getting sick abroad is even worse, especially when you don’t know where to go, when you don’t know the language, and when you have to pay, besides ruining the trip. Prevention is always better than treatment, so it is important to be smart and think, be prepared and safe, and avoid these situations altogether, just because you are on vacation doesn’t mean you are invincible. Just in case, it is always a good idea to know where the closest clinic is, and to at least know a couple of basic phrases for help, at the very least in English, as most doctors should be proficient in English, at least in Croatia. Citizens of the European Union if travelling, should have their European Health Insurance Card, which includes Croatia. And if you are really worried, then come stay with us in Povile where the owner is also a doctor!