Set up remote contact with clinicians
When you cannot get to a clinic, a phone, video or radio link to a clinician is the most powerful medical tool you have. Plan it before you need it.
How
- Ask your doctor and pharmacist now whether they offer phone or video appointments, and how to reach them out of hours.
- Make the medical room a place with a reliable signal or satellite internet (see comms and safety-14). One satellite kit's spec sheet lists an average 50 to 75 W draw, so include it in the critical power budget.
- Prepare what a clinician needs: the health file, observation log, recent readings, and good light to show a wound on camera.
- If internet and phones are down, use the radio plan from the comms module to reach help, and carry a registered 406 MHz personal locator beacon when working or travelling in remote areas (safety-17). Registration is required and free in the US.
- Write a one-page script for calling for help: who you are, where you are (coordinates), what happened, the patient's condition and readings, and what help you need.
Do these first
Sources
- Starlink Product Specifications: Standard. Starlink (manufacturer), accessed 2026-11
- 406 MHz Emergency Beacons. NOAA SARSAT, accessed 2026-11
- Financial Preparedness. Ready.gov (US FEMA), accessed 2026-11