Who are you going to call if it all goes wrong on holiday?Meet Doctor Ben MacFarlane. His job is to bring people back to Britain after holiday disasters, gap year crises, embarrassing incidents on business trips and all the other things that can go wrong when we head off overseas.Holiday SOS is his story – a year in the life of a very British flying doctor. Follow Ben as he grabs his medical bag … Follow Ben as he grabs his medical bag and flies to glamorous locations – helping to pick up the pieces after another holiday emergency.
Dramatic, hilarious and wildly unexpected, emergency medicine doesn’t just take place in intensive care wards – it can happen just across the aisle on your next flight.
Praise for Holiday SOS:
‘Will have you engrossed’ – Sunday Herald
‘Packed with tales of derring-do … it’s terrific, a riveting read’ – The Independent
‘A mixture of shocking, moving and at times very funny stories … an eye-opener for any holidaymaker’ – Now magazine
Ben MacFarlane graduated in medicine in 2000 and started carrying out medical repatriations in the spring of 2001. He has worked in several hospitals overseas, in a major London teaching hospital and on a series of cruise ships around the world.
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Thrilling recollections of doctor accompanying patients home from vacation— due to accident or sudden health problems. Accomplished life-saving emergencies while airborne. Also, he’s quite an empathetic man leading to interesting conversations.
This was a wild and enlightening journey around the world with the doctor(s) who are called in to save the day when an individual has an accident or illness while traveling. These “repatriations” are offered by collectives of physicians and nurses who work with travel insurers to ensure that people who have had an encounter with a foreign medical service as a result of some action or accident (from the banal to the bizarre) that befell them whilst away from home. The stories are intense – as are the experiences of Dr. MacFarlane as he navigates airports, hospitals, resorts, cruise ships, and myriad forms of transportation to save the day.
I had never really thought about how an individual would deal with an accident or illness during travel before. I’ve been fortunate to have had great luck both with my health and with my travels, and so like many (most?) people, the difficulties inherent in needing medical attention in a location where you (a) know no one/very few people) and (b) (often) don’t speak the language were one of those things that flew below my radar.
I ASSURE YOU, that is no longer the case…
Dr. Ben’s exploits to bring people back home were as eye-opening as the details of the injuries/illnesses that brought the good doctor onto the scene in the first place. Intermingled with that are his own experiences as an individual living a wildly scheduled life that rarely sees him in the same place for consecutive nights. In a voice that rings true as a bell (and just as clear), Dr. MacFarlane’s book takes readers on a startling series of journeys all over the world, introducing medical concepts, jurisdictional minutiae, and navigational hurdles – as well as a personal life – along the way that informed, horrified, and amused me in equal measure.
There’s a surprising amount of levity interjected throughout – sometimes in the face of a parade of horribles that would put a fiction writer to shame – as well as a not-so-surprising amount of heart. It seems to me that it requires a special personality to be able to not only demonstrate grace under pressure but also compassion. Dr. Ben offers both in spades, and it makes for a heart-warming, laugh-out-loud, tear-jerker of a book that I thoroughly enjoyed. I hope never to need a Dr. Ben – but if I do, I hope he’s the one who shows up…
My review copy was provided by Thistle Publishing.
I must thank two people for this brilliant and refreshing read. Obviously, one is Doctor Ben MacFarlane. His job is to bring people back to Britain after holiday disasters, miscellaneous other scary incidents, and all the other things that can go wrong when we travel overseas. Holiday SOS is his story – a year in the life of a British flying doctor repatriating the sick, injured, mentally unwell, and the druggies (not counting the grandma who accidentally took one of her grand-daughter’s Ecstasy tabs) from all corners of the world.
The other is Neil Simpson who was the person who wrote the book confirmed in the author’s note from Dr. MacFarlane at the back of the book. I’m surprised Simpson doesn’t get a credit in the Amazon product listing
The tales veer from the serious, to funny, and the downright ridiculous all told in a style that’s so easy to read. The authors and the doctor deal with some frightening crises; some at 35,000 feet altitude in cramped conditions.
What truly comes over to the reader is the doctor’s humanity, his empathy to others, and of course his medical skills. He seems like the kind of guy I’d love to have a beer with, never mind treat me if he attends on me in a medical capacity.
It’s a fascinating, refreshing read and highly recommended.
I thank the authors and publisher, Thistle Publishing, for a free digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.