Moving Around

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En provenance du cours de Johns Hopkins University

International Travel Preparation, Safety, & Wellness

84 notes

Johns Hopkins University

International Travel Preparation, Safety, & Wellness

84 notes

Whether you've traveled before or not, living and working overseas can be challenging. Learn how best to prepare and make the most of your time internationally. This course will prepare you to work and live overseas. It explores the epidemiology of common morbidity and mortality among travelers and examines key prevention, safety, and travel medicine principles and services to contextualize risks and maintain wellness. The course reviews applicable interventions, appropriate vaccines, and personal protection methods to prepare you to respond to expected and unexpected situations and will challenge you to examine travel health and safety priorities through case studies and discussions. The Honors Lesson will assist you with personal preparations for travel through the creation of a country-specific profile.

À partir de la leçon

Staying Safe

In this module, we'll cover strategies for staying safe while traveling, measures you can take to minimize risk, as well as specific advice for women and LGBT travelers.

Conceptual Framework for Safety While Traveling11:48

Moving Around17:47

Staying Safe12:15

Looking After Yourself15:34

Tales from the Field: Joanne Katz20:43

Rencontrer les enseignants

Anna Kalbarczyk
Research Associate
International Health

Welcome back.

Let's talk about Moving Around, behold,

don't want to stay put if you're working in a overseas location, a foreign country.

There's a lot of interesting things to see,

a lot of places that people want to go.

Your friends at home say, you should see this and you should see that.

So what are the things we need to think about when we're moving around

in the country?

So let's start off by what do we think about when we walk?

So when you're walking, it's important that you stay on familiar routes,

you don't get lost.

Because if you get lost then you may get into areas that really threaten you and

may cause potential loss of property or even injury to your life.

If you're walking it's good to be in a group or in pairs anyway, and

that can provide a certain amount of protection for you as well.

An important thing is not to be distracted by cell phones or by music, so

if you have in iPod,

best thing to do is not use this when you're walking in these new environments.

It may put you at considerable risk doing that, and again,

don't show off your net worth.

People will want to readjust your net worth if you're not careful.

And when you're traveling, always think about potential escape routes.

If something happened to me, could I go down that alleyway?

Would I turn down this street?

Could I go into the shop?

Would that be safe to do?

And if you're not sure if you are safe on a street, look at that street and

see if there are lots of women and children on that street.

If it is then,

if there are those, then you're likely to be safe in the those environments.

And when you move around be purposeful, be confident, don't look like you're

uncertain, or you're lost, or you're not sure what's happening, where you're going.

And then finally, be sure that somebody knows where you are at all times.

This might be telling the hotel when you're going to or

your colleagues about where you're visiting.

Or whatever people that you associate with so that somebody will be alert if

you're not showing up the time that you indicated that you were returning.

And then, watch out for certain things.

Watch out for people who are asking time or asking directions.

They may be sizing up your purse, or your camera bag, or

your jacket to see what's inside.

It doesn't mean that you shouldn't help people to know what time it is, but

just be careful.

These people may have an ulterior motive to asking or

to finding out that it's 2:30 in the afternoon.

Money-changers and hawkers along the road or

in the markets, they always have a special deal for you.

[LAUGH] Be careful,

these special deals are something that can turnaround and bite you.

Just an example, you can be changing money, and

they can offer you a much better rate than you can get at the bank.

And you change to hand over your dollars, and

they hand over a large brick of money with rubber bands around it.

And if you look at it carefully,

later on you might find that the interior is made of worthless bills.

And the outside looked good, but there was nothing on the inside and so

you've lost out there.

If there's a fight that breaks out in front of you,

this is a trick I've seen in a number of countries, that people will pick a fight

right in front of you, and they'll fall down on the ground.

And while they're doing that somebody else will come around and pick your pocket or

relieve you of your bag or attack you physically.

So if you see that happening in front you think that's not a normal situation,

something is going for you.

Demonstrations of any kind, football celebrations,

any kind of group, it's a normal thing to be curious.

What's going on here?

What's happening?

But these things can really turn ugly for

somebody who's a foreigner, you may find that your life is in serious problems.

Then there's always people who are, for a better word here,

called hello my friend people.

And they'll say, you remember that you came on the bus from such and such?

I was on the bus there, how are you doing, and what are you finding everything let me

show you a place where we can get good deals on watches or something else.

And to these very friendly people have an ulterior motive in being friendly.

So just a bit cautious even though, a country might be renowned for

its friendliness and its generosity.

There are always people that are taking advantage of that and

may cause trouble for you.

And then a final point on this slide is, or two points,

is always trust your intuition.

Of course, as you stay in a place for a while and

you learn more about that place, then your intuition gets better.

And just trust your intuition and use your common sense, these are your best friends.

If something doesn't feel right to you, if you feel uncomfortable,

then it's probably not where you should be right then, and

you should figure out how to get out of there.

And a final item is that alcohol can really blunt your protective instincts.

So many, many overseas people have gotten into trouble with a bit of alcohol and

they lost their capacity to think in a common sense way and

fall on the foul of many unfortunate circumstances.

Let's think about moving around,

vehicle crashes are the top killers of Americans overseas.

There are many ways that you can die in vehicle crashes.

Buses are a number one thing, even a common cause of death in the US.

Buses where the driver goes to sleep, or the driver has alcohol aboard and

turns the bus over, are major problems.

In most countries there are premium buses, or executive buses, or express buses.

And these are often run by reputable companies and they tend to be very safe.

But the half price or less at a mini buses or over loaded buses,

be careful of those, those are likely to break down.

And if you have a choice don't ride in anything at night, whether it's driving or

whether it's on foot or whether it's in a vehicle.

Lots of bad things happen at night.

Sometimes bus stations are in dubious locations.

And this is a great place to have your purse snatched or

your pocket picked, so be careful in the bus stations.

And again, not displaying your wealth here, if it's an uncertain or

dodgy neighborhood, it might be worth just taking a taxi to

this particular bus station and then getting on the bus from there.

Taxis always use a designated taxis.

In most countries there's an authorized taxi that has a license of some sort,

some countries have things called police taxis, not that they're run by policemen.

But the fact that whenever the taxi leaves, the taxi driver

writes down the destination and that destination is passed to the police.

So if you don't show up, they have an idea who you were and where you went and

who the driver was.

And this can be a major reassurance because thieves and

other types of thugs can drive taxis.

And they're just looking for

taking advantage of some rich person who doesn't know where he's going, and

gets off the main road, and then is relieved of all his possessions.

But it's good to be sure that the taxi you're in is actually the taxi

that the driver belongs to and that his face on the permit is the same face that

you look at him when you look in the rear view mirror, that's important.

And then a general principle every place including Baltimore is establish the fare

before you get in the taxi.

If you get in a taxi and you haven't established the fare,

then it's going to be probably twice what you would have paid otherwise.

Many taxis have meters, and you can encourage them to put on the meter

just like if you're in Baltimore and going to the airport.

They don't want to put on the meter because they can give you a special deal

for the trip that is a flat rate just going for the airport.

If you've put on the meter, you'll find that their special flat rate is about 20%

higher than the meter rate, so that's important to do.

And then, think about where you're going to put your valuables.

Don't put them in the trunk,

because trunks can often be opened while people are at the stop lights.

By the same token, if you have them inside with you,

don't have them by an open window where they can be snatched very easily.

Then of course, keep your safety belt fastened.

It's really critical because the door latches in many of these taxicabs

are pretty flimsy.

And I've been in cabs where we go around the corner and the doors slight open and

you think, if I have had my seat belt on maybe I would have tumbled out with them.

And the major reason for wearing your seat belt is that in accidents,

cars tend to roll over on their occupants, and

so if you're strapped inside then the car is not likely to roll over.

And you should always have some identification with you even if it's just

a photocopy of your passport, a photocopy of your drivers license,

have that along with you as well.

You should have something that explains what your organization is, and

we'll come to that a bit later.

But if people ask you who are you and who are you with?

If you have something that says what your group is doing that's great.

Ask the hotels for reputable taxi drivers.

They'll tell you which are the good ones and which ones aren't.

And then finally,

when you have to define what this actually is, but don't carry too much cash.

I don't know what too much is for you, but if you lose something to a theft, and

your wallet has $10 in it, that's not the end of the world, but it is gone.

2,000 or $5,000, then you're really in a serious troubles.

So here we can see a very common scene in many countries.

This happens to be Thailand.

You could see the young lady just barely hanging on.

What happens when the taxi hits a bump or what happens when the driver

swerves to avoid another motortaxi that's broken down in the road?

So these are all kind of risk factors that might happen with taxis that you have to

be careful with.

And then a little bit about motorcycles and bicycles.

Generally, don't try to ride these in heavily trafficked areas,

there may cause you a lot of trouble.

Many countries have motorcycle taxis.

These are particularly dangerous.

It depends on where you are, but in many countries,

these are thieves trying to relieve the passenger of his money.

If you have a choice, be sure you can wear your helmet, and you might find that your

personal insurance is voided if you're not using a helmet while you're cycling.

Don't be the second person on a motorcycle,

this was a discovery about 15 years ago when the peace corp was looking through

the information on deaths of peace corp volunteers overseas.

And they found that many of them we're riding as a second person on a motorcycle,

and this was a high risk.

Another risk that can affect you, whether you're walking or on a motorcycle,

is there are thieves operating on motorcycles, and

they'll swoop up beside you on your motorcycle.

And then relieve you of your purse or anything that looks valuable, and

then they're off some place else.

So, look at these potential thieves on the motorcycles.

The deliberate flat tire is another trap for the unwary.

You come out from a restaurant or some place that you've been shopping for

souvenirs and you find you have a flat tire.

Well, it's an intentional flat tire,

somebody has done that to you and they are lying in wait for you.

They'll either attack you, or they'll take away your purse, or your cameras, or

something from you as penalty for stopping to look at this flat tire,

and this happens in automobiles, as well.

So if you come out from some place and see a flat tire, don't approach the vehicle.

Go back and call the office or call somebody else to come help you with this.

And a final point about renting motorcycles

is don't leave your passport a security.

Many times the rental place will want you to leave this at security, but

don't do that.

First off, it's too pricey,

valuable a possession to leave or in a bicycle rental shop or something.

And secondly, when you come back they may imagine there's all kinds of damage that's

occurred while you've been riding it although that damage has been there for

a long time.

And they're going to hold onto this until you pay them whatever kind of

extortionist price in order for you to get your passport back again.

Then I want to say a little bit about driving.

There are some real concerns about driving,

on the general principle is do not travel on roads at night,

whether you're on a bus, whether you're on a motorcycle or

whether you're in an automobile, because there are may things that happen at night.

The possession of the road may change hands at night.

And there are lots of cows on the road that don't have headlights or

reflectors on them.

Hitting a cow at 60 or 70 miles an hour in your

car is just a demolishing experience, and many people are killed in that way.

Roads tend to be not well marked, so you may need a driver to help you, and

that's not a terribly high investment.

Many drivers come fairly cheaply in country

if you have somebody that's certified and reputable.

But if you see this driver is behaving oddly, then you have to say stop.

Don't think that you have to be very well-mannered and

pleasant and not create problems.

But if he's not driving well or she is putting your life at risk, so

you need to get them to stop straight away.

Don't use vehicles that are in poor repair, that

describes probably 80% of the taxicabs in some of the countries that you may visit.

Always use your seat belt, even in the back seat, because as I mentioned,

door latches may be frail, and if you go around a corner and

all the doors fly open, you may go out with them.

And if you are driving,

find out what the appropriate thing to do in case of an accident,

especially in the case of an accident that involves personal injury, because you may

be attacked by a mob and the safest thing to do is get out of there.

In many countries require that if you had an accident that has some way

caused injury, then your responsibility is to get to the nearest police station.

And not to stop by and help people up to get to the hospital, and so forth,

because that may turn on you, and that may be serious injury for you, as well.

Even if the accident wasn't really your fault to begin with.

And then some other concerns to have if you're driving in a big white

4x4 SUV with chrome plated push bars in the front.

You're just saying that the occupant of this vehicle are wealthy

people that are financed by some foreign organization and so

that may make you a trap in various ways.

Carjackings, they're fairly common especially

in border areas where there can be fenced across the border very easily.

And then just out and out attacks on vehicles as they travel.

So there you should try to avoid any kind of routines.

So alter the way you go to the office.

This time this way, that time some other way,

try to vary your hours at various times and always be alert and

don't be distracted because things can happen when you're not paying attention.

One of the things to be particularly concerned about when you're

either you're a passenger or you're driving are checkpoints along the highway.

Now these may be common in many places if you're leaving a town, or entering a town,

or at bridges, or at junctions, and so forth.

So those are more or less to be expected in many countries.

But if you find checkpoints in very isolated areas, in a desert area or

the mountains or a forested area, be careful, these are maybe informal and

they maybe income generating activities or they maybe there to cause you harm.

And if you see something that is out of place the best advice is to stop

the minute that you see this and just seat there and watch and see what happens.

And for the people who gets through there without troubles then probably it's okay.

Or you can ask them as they pass through it,

what was this all about and who is it and so forth.

Especially if you're traveling with people of certain ethnic or tribal backgrounds,

this may be bad news for them in these circumstances.

If you're approaching them at night, it's always wise to approach very slowly

to turn your headlights down, turn off your radio,

turn your interior light on so people with the checkpoint can see who's in there.

And always keep both hands inside, both hands on the steering wheel or

both hands on the dashboard or something.

So there's not indication that you might have something, some weapon out of sight,

have your identification ready so if there is any questions people know who you are.

And if you are working for a specific organization or

research program, have something in local language available so

people can see what it is that you're about and understand why you're doing.

If you have valuables, keep them out of sight, if you've been photographing

things, keep your camera down, out of sight so people don't see that.

And even if people are being provocative to you, try to keep calm and be unhurried,

at the same time, don't volunteer too much information, don't talk too much.

And sometimes you have to get out the car when they want to inspect the car,

but generally speaking it makes sense not to get out of the car, once you're out of

the car, you're much more vulnerable than when you're staying in the car.

And then finally, you're always going to be asked for

rides, don't give rides to anyone who has a weapon just as a general principle.

And finally, just a little bit about the police and military.

And the top of the list is be careful with intoxicated

soldiers who have weapons, or police who have weapons.

If you engage much in conversation with them, it often has a bad outcome, so

a drunken military people are a major problem.

So you can also say the same thing with child soldiers, you might find 12, 13,

14 year old soldiers with semi-automatic weapon, always do exactly what they say.

If they tell you to do this, then you do this.

Never give them any lip, never talk casually to them,

always give them respect.

They have no conscience about shooting you, so be really careful with that.

In every country there are professionals in the military,

professionals in the police.

This always makes a good practice to establish some good connection with them

right from the beginning.

And if you get into trouble, you can always refer to them and

they can help you out.

Then they have to think about, well, we've already mentioned no weapons inside

of vehicles as that's just a general principle in every place.

And then finally, work out a policy of what you do when people ask you for

bribes, or baksheesh, or some type of gift in some way.

And there's usually socially acceptable ways that you can do this without getting

into serious ethical problems on your own perspectives.

So that brings us to the end of this section, and later on we'll come back and

talk about where to stay and how to stay safely.

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