HOLIDAY RESCUE & EMERGENCY EVACUATION

ZOOM EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE SERVICES

• What does Medical Evacuation mean?

• Medical evacuation, often shortened to medivac, is the timely and efficient care provided by medical personnel, to injured or ill travellers being evacuated from the scene of an accident or en-route to appropriate facilities to receive medical treatment.

• How does a holiday rescue work?

• If you find yourself in an emergency situation and need to be rescued on holiday, contact Zoom's 24-hour emergency assistance line as soon as possible. This allows our emergency assistance team, First Assistance, to liaise with your treating doctor or hospital overseas and assess the level of care being provided. We can also then determine what medical treatment or transportation is required. In some cases, the recommendation will be made to bring you home to New Zealand for treatment. In serious cases, this may mean the arrangement on an air ambulance.

• How much does an air ambulance cost?

• Helicopter flights are expensive, there's no denying it. The cost will vary depending on the distance of the transport as well as any specialised staff and equipment required to be on board. For example, helivac costs in relation to skiing accidents usuallly cost between $4-$18k, but the average cost of an air ambulance flight in the USA or Canada is over a whopping $200,000!

• When isn't holiday rescue covered?

• We’re here to help if you, your traveling companion or your family is in danger, but travel insurance doesn’t cover everything.  It’s important to read the policy wording to understand terms, conditions, limits and exclusions.
  
  Below are some scenarios that wouldn’t be covered.
   

  You did not contact us for pre-approval of an emergency rescue.

  You did not follow the advice of our 24/7 emergency First Assistance (for example, if our medical team recommend you return to New Zealand and you refuse to do so).

  You’re not covered for costs incurred once you have returned home to New Zealand. Medical expenses incurred in New Zealand are excluded, even if the illness or injury was sustained overseas and we paid for the overseas medical expenses.

  As outlined in the policy wording, you are not covered for expenses that relate to a pre-existing medical condition, unless it is a condition listed in Zoom’s automatically covered medical conditions.

  Anything that is listed as an exclusion under Overseas Emergency Assistance Services or as a general exclusion on the policy.

  You’ve reached base camp and the guide and/or helicopter rescue crew convinced you of joy flight to get down off the mountain.

• Am I covered for helicopter evacuation off the slopes?

• Yes, if you have a serious accident on the slopes, we will cover any necessary medical evacuation from a ski site. This is provided you opted and paid for our Snow Pack add-on, and you met the other requirements of the policy. We do not cover skiing or snowboarding backcountry or outside resort boundaries, or any activity that is professional, or involves and form of racing, acrobatics, aerials, stunting or freestyle. For the full list of snow sport activities we cover, please see the definition in our policy glossary.
  
  If you are involved in an accident on the slopes, contact our 24/7 emergency assistance team as soon as possible.