Bulgaria Ski discussion board

That is just dreadful care, in future I will be taking my plaster scissors & crepe bandages just in case, thankfully I always take plenty of pain relief (always needed). Although I will say it's not just Bulgaria that can be bad I have worked on a trauma ward and have had some completely innapropriately treated people admitted from the middle east & spain. My sister fractured her ankle & was treated in Miami when she was x-rayed back home the consultant thought she had had an old fracture too (she hadn't) because it was set so badly. And don't even get me started on what I have seen doctors do in this counrty. The problem is when people don't have enough knowledge to distinguish between accepted pain for the injury and damage done by poor medical care. It's a good warning to all, if it hurts like hell, doesn't look or feel right complain, as claire said if she hadn't taken action her son could have lost his leg.

Mikey- My daughter broke her wrist in Bansko and was escorted by her instructor to top Gondola station, where they found me.
We weren't charged for the first aid she received on the mountain,but like you say,an agent deals with the insurance details when you arrive in the medical centre.
Money does however ,change hands for the insurance excess, £50 in our case. .No money = no treatment. I saw people in agony waiting for friends /relatives to return with money to pay the excess so that they could be treated.

I can only speak of my experience in Sunny Beach 3 years ago.

I was lying on the beach feeling a little unwell. (I've been diabetic for 34 years.) When I tried to walk to the hotel I could hardly put one foot in front of the other but eventually we made it back. Angie called a doctor who arrived in about 15 minutes. He instantly called an ambulance and I was taken to the medical centre and under-went tests. No money was ever discussed. My blood sugar level was at 48.6 (normal is around 4) and many people have died with much lower levels than that.
They immediately stuck drips in me to fight off a virus that I had picked up and the attention I recieved was fantastic. A nurse never left my side for 4 days (day and night) and eventually after 10 days I was back to normal. The basic attention was awsome although the methods were very old fashioned. I had a blood test ever hour for 6 days where they would prick my finger and suck the blood off with a straw before blowing it into a test tube. My drip was housed in a sawn off Diet Coke bottle but when you are that ill nothing matters other than getting better.

I can never thank them enough for what they did for me - they saved my life of that I have no doubt whatsoever, and insurance was NEVER dscussed until I was fit and well again. The insurance paid 100% of my treatment which came to approx. £3,000.

Whenever I visit Sunny Beach now it is the first place we go to see the doctors and nurses that were so kind to me.

I'll never forget what they did - never.


Pete

Claire
You have my empathy with this one. 5 years ago in Sunny Beach my son had a quad bike accident resulting in a fractured scull, broken arm and bad vuts and bruises. The locals could not have been more helpful. They called the ambulance and translated. Unfortunately Vulgaria is a poor country and the care we received was very old fashioned but the staff in Bourgas hospital were fantastic even though the language was a problem. Balkans rep Drago couldn't have done enough for us, he organised food (cos they don't feed you in hospital) and a brilliant taxi driver to the hospital every day so me and hubby could take it in turns to be at the hospital 24/7. I agree the x-rays were really old fashioned and the plaster caused terrible blisters on my sons arm when we had it removed as soon as we touched down in UK. We spent 7 days in the hospital but what a lot of friends we made. We return every year to see them all and end up making more new ones as well. I love Bulgaria and its people and can't wait to go over in 2 weeks time, its like going to a second home now. Our insurnace companu paid all our bills except for the first £50 we had to pay on discharge fromt he hospital. I do think they need to upgrade the ambulances though, there wasn't even any oxygen on board or neck collars which are routine here!

Caz