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Dealing with sick/ill people in hostels

General Hostel Operations

Josh started this discussion 13 years 2 months ago

I was wondering how you deal with sick or ill people at your hostel. We know that most customers dont stay very long and leave within 2-3 days but even in this time what if the sick customer(s) are contagious and make other people sick as well. Also they can make other people in the room uncomfortable. Would you other them to book a private room? Ask them to visit a doctor for there illness?

Any suggestions would be great.

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Scotch Argus

13 years

It's an interesting question but not one I have a lot of knowledge about. I'd imagine that the most common form of illness found in hostels would be from food poisoning, especially in countries where this is a particular problem. There's not much you can do about that but wait it out, but it certainly isn't pleasant for the person or those around them. I guess a vomiting bug such as Norovirus could also spread round a hostel - again all you can do is wait it out. I'd certainly try and give the person a private room if it were at all possible.

When I used to work at a large hostel chain we were told we were never to give any first aid ourselves, or even give out simple pain-killers, due to the risk of litigation from someone claiming that our help had in fact hurt them. Personally I think this is ridiculous - surely if someone was in obvious need of help you'd help them? I remember one guy who'd cut his head on the lid of the trunk of his car and there was a lot of blood. Obviously we provided bandages and drove him to a doctor - you're hardly going to leave the guy to bleed to death.

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alsacekid

13 years

One of the first things a hotel owner should look into is the establishing of a contact to a doctor who would act as a first call/aid contact. That could either be the owners family doctor or a practice close by. Many medics love to travel and like the talks with travelers. In my own experience there was never a situation where the doctor did not at least give advice on the phone, most times even come by. Even when the traveler did not have health coverage in the country he was in.
Important, the doctor can diagnose the traveler, should there be any risk, he will advice him and/or the hostel about what to do. The responsibility is taken from the hostel/staff.

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Josh Hostels

13 years

I was wondering how you deal with sick or ill people at your hostel.

I've been terribly sick at a hostel about 11 years ago. I thought I was going to have to go to a hospital. Luckily they didn't kick me out, because I'm not sure I could have walked a block. I was many months into an attempt to travel around the world with $2500. I think I had $200 left at that point. :)

I probably wouldn't kick a guest out over being sick, but might suggest they move to a private room. If one gets sick on the road, one should expect that there may be those kinds of expenses, and they could be a budget killer. If the guest were unable to pay the extra amount needed for the private room, I would try to give them a free upgrade to an empty dorm or private room (if available). It costs money, but from a business perspective, you could look at is as ending up with a customer who is a really enthusiastic supporter of your business.

When I used to work at a large hostel chain we were told we were never to give any first aid ourselves, or even give out simple pain-killers, due to the risk of litigation from someone claiming that our help had in fact hurt them. Personally I think this is ridiculous...

I could see that approach with things that guests can do themselves, like applying band-aids and asprin (due to potentially life-threatening, allergic reactions), but if any employees are trained in first aid, and there are no other options, I think employees should apply CPR, bandage serious wounds, or other tasks -- only within their training or with the direction from emergency services on the phone.

CPR training is only about $15-$30 per person in the US, and is good for 2 years. :)

One of the first things a hotel owner should look into is the establishing of a contact to a doctor who would act as a first call/aid contact.

Good idea...

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