Bulgaria Ski discussion board

Hi all
I'm taking a group of school students to Pamporovo in February 2010. I've been to the resort many times before but haven't been faced with this problem before.
One of our students has a Nut Allergy, carries an Epipen and may require hospital treatment if he goes into anaphylactic shock . Can anyone advise if it would be better to discourage this child from travelling or if he did travel are there sufficient medical facilities on the mountain/resort if medical attention was required? Medical advice in the UK/Ireland is that hospital admission is advised within 30 mintues of using an Epipen. I would appreciate any advice on this matter or on the medical facilities in general in Pamporovo/Smoylan/Plovdiv etc. Many thanks for the help.

The parents are keen to let the child go. However as Party Leader and following School Policy, I'm carrying out a Risk Assessment. In order to complete the Risk Assessment and state if the risk to child is high, medium, low, I must find out what the medical facilities are in resort and on mountain. If they are poor, the risk would be too high and I would have to rule the student out, but if medical care was good it would then place the child in possibly medium or low risk category. Anyone else with info, it would be great to hear from you. Thanks.

Hmm, it's a dilemma, I don't think the risk is too great if the child has an epipen and can recognise the symptoms. Perhaps taking food for the child is the better option although this would increase baggage weight and may not be fesable. Pamporovo has a medical facility on site but i don't believe there is a hospital within 30 minutes drive. The reason hospital is recommended within 30 minutes is because shock can still occur after the epipen has been used therfore they need to be monitored just in case.

Pamporovo Pete may be able to help further but i'm not sure if he's around on here at the moment.

Good luck, I hope it turns out ok

Hi Pat.
I tend to concur with Rach on this, I have been out to Pamps and it is a bit isolated I believe with distance to hospital. Rach stated there is a medical facility there but as a paramedic I think they appear only geared for aches and breaks (hope I'm wrong)
Usually if a patient has a severe allergy they tend to have more than one epipen, 1 at home, 1 in rucksack, usually the school first aid room holds 1 as well.
Does you tour provider have any information to be of help for you.
Hope all goes well for the child.
S.P.

My own view is that I would not take a child to Bulgaria who was suffering with a life threatening food allergy .

Even if you could get your message across to restaurant staff, they are unlikely to know which of their ingredients might be contaminated, or to be particularly bothered to find out. They will however tell you what you want to hear.

Sorry to have to say this, but I have knowledge of Bulgaria and Bulgarians going back 20 years now, and it's a national characteristic that they are unconcerned about matters that don't effect them personally. Consider it the legacy of the 'Turkish Yoke' and Communism.

This is the way it is, and if a child's life could be at risk I MUST spell it out as it is.

However there is a full discussion of this issue on http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=133086&p=1334323&hilit=allergy#p1334323
This has a link to another website.

It might be OK for someone to take their own child, but would you be prepared to undertake the same care and responsibilty for someone else's?

Hi, my nephew is 13 and has had a nut allergy since he was 2 years old, he has epipens and carries them all the time. We took him to BG last summer and he loved it. It depends on the age of the child aswell, my nephew knows what he can and cannot eat, for instance he didnt want to risk the cones with the ice cream so he just asked for ice cream in a plastic cup, our hotel was great as we explained to the restaurant manager and he advised not to eat the cakes but that most of the food would be ok for him to eat and we had a great 2 weeks. Most nut sufferers will have 2 epipens, but check the expiry dates as recently my sister has noticed their 'shelf life' is getting shorter.

Jo

Pat

Put in google how to use an epipen, this explains how long you have to get to the hospital, varies between 15 mins and 2 hours depends on the suffer. This topic has been covered before and may be worth putting into the search engine.

Advice was to carry a card with I have a nut allergy in bulgarian on it so it can be shown in resturants ect..

I am sure if you need urgent hospital treatment there are helicopters that can get you there. One thing I would check is the holiday insurance to make sure he is covered on a group policy may need to take out independent insurance.

I have several allergies and carry an epipen I am sorry but I dont let it interferer with what I do. Reactions can very from a very slight rash to wind pipes swelling, most of the time but not always I know when I am getting a reaction. Make sure you know where he keeps his pen and how to use, also if you are skiing it may be worth talking to his parents about a protective cover as could get broken if he falls.

As for the hospitals as far as I am aware PP who is diabetic has had treatment there and says the hospitals are as good as the UK.

hope this helps

Pat

Put in google how to use an epipen, this explains how long you have to get to the hospital, varies between 15 mins and 2 hours depends on the suffer. This topic has been covered before and may be worth putting into the search engine.

Advice was to carry a card with I have a nut allergy in bulgarian on it so it can be shown in resturants ect..

I am sure if you need urgent hospital treatment there are helicopters that can get you there. One thing I would check is the holiday insurance to make sure he is covered on a group policy may need to take out independent insurance.

I have several allergies and carry an epipen I am sorry but I dont let it interferer with what I do. Reactions can very from a very slight rash to wind pipes swelling, most of the time but not always I know when I am getting a reaction. Make sure you know where he keeps his pen and how to use, also if you are skiing it may be worth talking to his parents about a protective cover as could get broken if he falls.

As for the hospitals as far as I am aware PP who is diabetic has had treatment there and says the hospitals are as good as the UK.

hope this helps