Global Travel Assistance

If a Yale employee or student experiences a medical emergency, loses a passport, or has serious safety concerns while traveling far from home or campus, they can access International SOS Global Travel Assistance (ISOS) by phone or LiveChat 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. ISOS provides emergency medical, security, and travel assistance services worldwide, and it’s not just for employees or students—immediate family members and dependents are also covered when traveling with a member of the Yale community. The coverage applies to business and personal trips 100 miles or more away from an individual’s permanent residence, and multilingual support is available 24 hours, seven days a week.

“While most calls are medically related—broken bones, lost medicines, flu, or other non-life-threatening illnesses—we have had to evacuate people to safe zones due to political unrest,” said Marjorie Lemmon, director of risk management and insurance. “The more pre-trip preparation staff or students do, the better ISOS is able to track and assist them should an incident or emergency occur.”

Pre-trip planning

When planning international travel, travelers can use the ISOS member portal to review the risk rating* of a destination or specific area(s) and access the country report. The risk rating provides an indication of whether additional safety considerations should be taken into account, whether for the country as a whole, or specific areas of the country. The country report provides information on local customs, language, weather, transportation options, restaurants, the location of embassies or ATMs, and any security or medical concerns (e.g., an increase in flu infections at that time of year or political upheaval).

Before departing, travelers may contact ISOS to request a pre-departure briefing specific to their itinerary. The briefing will include information on the destination, such as guidance on safe travel, high-risk locations to avoid, recommended hotels, and the most reliable ground transportation.

Travelers may also visit the International SOS online member center to find detailed travel, security and health guidance by country and major cities; disease and prevention reports; and travelers can sign-up for country-based email alerts. Safety tips and global risk ratings—including specific reasons for the ratings—can also be found in the member center.

Before departure and registering travel

Before departure, travelers should download and familiarize themselves with the ISOS app and ID card. If assistance is required during a trip, the contact information for dedicated Yale phone numbers is already saved in the app and available via the ID card. Travelers should also register their domestic or international itineraries using TravelTracker. Yale’s Risk Management team uses data from TravelTracker to contact affected travelers in the event of a significant emergency—political unrest, severe weather, natural disaster, or other health and safety concerns. Registering the trip helps ISOS more efficiently dispatch help and aid accompanying family members or dependents as needed.

“ISOS’s TravelTracker helps us track where members of our community may be working, studying, or doing research, especially for business and student travel. If they pre-register their travel plans or itinerary and an emergency occurs that may affect them, we can contact them via email or phone providing details and instructions, and if necessary, work with ISOS to provide security, safe passage, or evacuation,” said Lemmon.

During a trip

For medical or travel security assistance, travelers should contact ISOS directly from the app, use the LiveChat, or refer to the ISOS ID Card for dedicated or in-country phone numbers. Immediate family members and/or dependents traveling separately are also automatically covered.

“ISOS has a security team that monitors potential political or safety situations by country. They also have pre-vetted medical services in many locations worldwide. If necessary, ISOS will stay in touch with a patient until the issue is resolved. Travel prep using ISOS resources will provide staff and students peace of mind when embarking on a trip and provide them valuable resources and a 24/7 lifeline if needed,” said Carolyn Marks, international operations and compliance manager.

Yale University offers ISOS services at no cost to current students, employees, immediate family, and emeritus faculty. For a full list of resources and specific information about ISOS services, out-of-country medical care coverage, Yale travel policies, and more, visit the ISOS travel assistance webpage.

*Yale undergraduate students cannot travel on Yale business to countries or areas of countries that are rated high or extreme by ISOS. Please refer to the Yale University International Travel Policy for Yale College Students for more information.