Medical Conditions and the Vacation

Vacations provide an opportunity to create a temporary distance from life’s stresses and recharge the batteries. Island Park provides a great atmosphere to decompress. Vacationing does not include neglecting your health issues. Many visitors this summer have experienced health problems requiring emergency medical attention.

Medical conditions stay with you and must be managed. It is easy to postpone personal care when you are engaged in enjoyable activities. While on a four-wheeler ride through the pine forest, checking your blood sugar may be forgotten. Gathering the family together for a float down the Henry’s Fork seems much more important than giving attention to a few slight chest pains.

Inattention to your health details can turn your vacation into a personal and family crisis. So while you are enjoying Island Park and leaving your world behind, be proactive with your medical conditions.

1.           Take your medication on time. Carry it with you along with a bottle of water, a syringe or whatever device necessary to administer your meds.
2.      Notify others in your party of any personal medical conditions, including food allergies.
3.            Instruct others in your party how to recognize the symptoms and respond if your medical condition should arise.
4.      For serious existing conditions, wear a medical alert pendant or bracelet.
5.      Do not dismiss early warning symptoms because it is inconvenient. A visit to the Island Park’s Clinic (next to Pond’s Lodge) is much more convenient than a helicopter flight to the hospital in Idaho Falls.

Be safe and have a great vacation in Yellowstone Country!