It was like something out of a movie – one minute, my little one was feeling a bit sick.  “No biggie, I thought,” even though we were a thousand miles from home.  “Kids get sick.  I’ll let her watch an in-room movie and stock up on the juice, and she’ll be fine in the morning.”

A few hours later, we were in an ambulance.

Everything turned out OK with Abby (she had a nasty ear infection, a virus, and a touch of dehydration all at once), but things sure could have gone smoother if I’d had a better idea of what to do when my kid got sick on vacation.  And, what with the recirculated air on planes and the recent incidents of whole cruise ships falling prey to, not an iceberg, but a virus, your kid might be next.  Be prepared!

Do your research ahead of time. Before you go, look up the closest pediatric hospital to your vacation destination.  If your child sees a specialist for any kind of chronic condition, ask him or her for a referral to someone near where you’ll be.

Purchase travel insurance. The best kind will provide for a Medi-Vac if you need to get out of a sticky spot with, say, a kid with a broken arm, plus pay for alternate flights home and extra nights in a hotel while you wait for your child to get well enough to fly.

Scan in your child’s health insurance card. Carry the real thing, too, but keep an electronic copy in your laptop or mobile device; make sure all adult caretakers (including grandma and the babysitter) have a copy.

Ditto on a consent for treatment form. Draft a letter allowing your child’s caretaker to consent to medical treatment in case you’re not there.  Keep a copy for yourself, and be ready to fax it to a health care provider if necessary.

Carry copies of your child’s prescriptions with you. If you’re traveling domestically, having your doctor send prescriptions to a chain pharmacy makes it much more likely that you can refill or replace them wherever you are.

Stock up on over-the-counter stuff. Keep a plastic Ziploc with all the usual suspects:  child pain reliever, anti-diarrheal, anti-itch ointment, and bandages.

Assert your parental rights. You have a right to ask for the medical care your child needs, even in an unfamiliar hospital.  I told the ambulance in no uncertain terms to take Abby to the best children’s hospital, not just the nearest one.  It was a good choice – she was discharged, much better, only eight hours later.