A few months ago, Angling Trade ran an online story (and another piece in our print edition) about Global Rescue, a company that specializes in getting travelers who find themselves in medical (or other) difficulties evacuated from trouble spots, and in the best care possible, as quickly as possible. In a nutshell, we concluded that anyone who travels to fish—given the remote locations and dangerous environments that often entails—should sign up to be a Global Rescue client. And, if you’re into hosting trips to remote locales, you would be smart to build that into the total trip cost for your clients.
Jim Klug, AFFTA’s chairman and director of operations for Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures found out first hand how important that can be. Fishing on the Rio Secure in the most remote reaches of Bolivia, he sustained a “blunt force trauma” when a push pole became wedged in rocks as Jim’s canoe was moving through rapids. The boatman tried to hang on, and the pole snapped back, hitting Jim squarely in his eye. He lost vision, and had to be evacuated (with both eyes bandaged). Within 49 hours, he was at an eye institute in Miami.
The good news is that Jim is recovering, and is expected to fully recover his vision. Please join us in wishing Jim a speedy continued recovery, and offering thanks to Global Rescue for a job well done.
13 Comments
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Wishing you a full and speedy recovery, my friend.
Also hoping here for that that speedy and full recovery, glad to hear the prognosis is good!
Jim, wishing you all the best and thank god you were able to get back home quickly to get this taken care of.
Jim,
Hope you get better soon- scary thought…
Although- I have to say after purchasing Global Rescues single trip packages in the past- I am a little disappointed to hear that it too over 2 days… 49 hours to get Jim from a remote area in Bolivia to Miami-
I have always been under the impression that it would be a much faster “rescue” Ive been to Conception, and La Paz. and I know that he was in a remote area, that being said a helicopter in an a flight out from an airport in less than 24 hours. It doesn’t sound like a long time- but 24 hours can be the difference between life and death. Ill have to talk to him about his experience next time I run into him at a show.
Hi Paul,
Sam from Global Rescue here. Great to hear that you have been a member in the past, we really appreciate your business. I know that 49 hours can seem like a long time and you are absolutely right that every hour is critical in these situations. Each case is unique and there is never any guarantee that we can get you out in x hours. In this particular case, Jim’s fishing partner was on the sat phone with our medical team within minutes of the accident. The lodge is really very remote and as the incident happened in the afternoon and nightfall was not far off, the first time a plane could get into the camp was early the following morning. As with the majority of potentially serious incidents, Jim was then assessed at a local clinic where he received emergent care. He then made the journey up to Miami.
Feel free to get in touch if you want any further information.
Kind regards,
Sam Highley
[email protected]
+1 617 459 4200
JIm:
Best wishes from the Mexican Caribbean, we all hope for a fast recover.
Rogelio Velasco
Pesca Maya Team
Wow Jim,
Sorry to hear about the accident and wishing you a full and speedy recovery!
Scary indeed as we all know how critical our vision is to the full enjoyment of the art of fly fishing.
Glad things are going well.
Markus Fipps
We talked in Reno and all was well.It’s amazing how things can happen so fast. Get well fast.
Thanks everyone for the comments. All is going well, and so far things seem to be healing and getting better with the vision in my right eye. IT has gone from zero vision to about 70%, and the doctors tell me that over the next few weeks, that should continue to improve.
What began as a strange, freak accident and a fairly scary situation far from home is going to end up just fine – thanks to the good friends I was traveling with, a sat phone, a great lodge staff, and the team at Global Rescue. I do have to give credit to the guys at Global Rescue in that they were there every step of the way and really made sure that I received the help and medical support that I needed – both in Bolivia and once I made it back to Miami. As the co-owner of a travel company, we send a lot of people all over the world, and we’ve always recommended both trip insurance and a Global Rescue policy to cover medical evacuations and (in certain countries) security situations. That said, as much as I have advocated these services, I never thought that I would need to utilize these policies myself! Having this Global Rescue coverage really made a difference in my case – with a timely evacuation, good medical care in both countries, and in covering the costs related to getting home.
Thanks everyone for the great comments and thoughts. Much appreciated!
Glad to hear that you are healing quickly! Here is to a safe and speedy recovery!
Ethan & the Boyne Outfitters team
I had read the original article in the print edition and thought about what a great idea Global Rescue was for those who travel. Kudos to Global Rescue and to those who have the foresight to get a policy such as this.