By Gregory Nassief, Founder & CEO, Six Kind
In the polished language of program brochures and HR memos, we often find phrases like “safety is our top priority,” or “we’re committed to the well-being of every student and employee we serve.”
But beneath those words, there is a more complicated truth:
Most systems do not act when people need care the most.
And when a system fails, when a student is left waiting in a rural hospital with no translator, when a business traveler cannot reach anyone who understands their medication, when a parent calls a university at 3 a.m. and hears nothing but a voicemail, intent does not matter anymore. Only infrastructure does.
At Six Kind, we are in the quiet business of helping families and institutions build that infrastructure. But the most important lesson we have learned from our experience helping students and other travellers is this: The severity of the crisis is not what defines an outcome. The readiness of the response does.
Take Lauren, a 21-year-old university student in Cambodia. She fell ill in a province several hours from the capital. She was feverish, dehydrated, and confused. Her group leader, understandably overwhelmed, brought her to a local hospital. The facility was not accredited and there were no English-speaking staff. There was no protocol in place for evacuation or escalation. Her mother—desperate for answers—found none.
By the time the family reached out, Lauren’s condition had worsened. We deployed a local paramedic, transferred her to a JCI-accredited hospital, stayed bedside to prevent psychiatric collapse, and coordinated her return home. She was safe within 48 hours. Although she is healthy and thriving now, it was a close call. Only the speed and resourcefulness of our team helped her overcome a difficult situation that no one anticipated.
The reality is that most institutions, despite their best intentions, are not prepared for the version of travel we now inhabit.
We are living in a post-assumption world.
According to the World Health Organization, access to emergency medical care in rural areas of Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Central America is deteriorating due to staff shortages, infrastructure gaps, and language barriers.
The CDC continues to issue rising alerts for typhoid fever, dengue, and other diseases across study abroad hotspots. And the American Psychological Association reports that half of students studying abroad experience mental health distress serious enough to impair daily function. Medical incidents compound those challenges.
Despite this, many organizations still rely on third-party insurance plans, generic safety training, and the hope that a local contact can step in if needed.
They call it a plan. But it is not a plan, it is a placeholder.
We must do better, not just for legal compliance—but because the next emergency will not wait for a committee meeting.
What does better look like?
A real system of duty of care is not reactive. It is architectural, designed in advance of any incident abroad. It is proactive, human-centered, and sustained. This system integrates emergency medical navigation, mental health response, evacuation readiness, and family communication across time zones and languages.
It is not a checklist.
It is a commitment.
And increasingly, it is a measure of institutional maturity.
In a world where over 350,000 U.S. students study abroad each year, and international business travel climbs back toward pre-pandemic levels, care has become the new credibility.
So, if you are leading a study abroad office, managing global mobility for a company, or preparing to send your child overseas, ask yourself the following:
Is your current plan designed to hold?
Or is it built on the hope that you will not need it?
The world is too complex, and the stakes are too high.
We have seen what it looks like when the system holds.
We have also seen what happens when it does not.
Now, it is time to decide which side of that story you want to be on.
📘 Download our free guide: What to Do If You are Sick or Injured Abroad
💬 Or reach out. We will help you build a system designed to carry the weight of real care.
FAQ: A New Standard for Care
Q1: What is the article’s central argument?
The article challenges institutions, families, and employers to move beyond intention and into action when it comes to traveler safety. It argues that care without infrastructure—without a real, tested system—is no longer acceptable in today’s risk environment.
Q2: What qualifies as a “system” of care?
A system includes coordinated, real-time human support before, during, and after a crisis. This can involve medical navigation, translation, mental health stabilization, evacuation planning, and family communication.
Q3: Why is this important now?
Global health access is fragmenting, especially in regions where many academic, volunteer, and professional programs operate. At the same time, mental health distress abroad is surging. Institutions must be prepared for both medical and emotional emergencies—not with generic resources, but with operational readiness.
Q4: What about insurance? It covers medical emergencies, right?
No. Insurance covers costs; it does not coordinate care. Most insurance policies were not designed to manage logistics, communicate across borders, or prevent medical and psychological escalation. The difference between coverage and care is the difference between reimbursement and real-time intervention.
Q5: Who should read this article?
- Study abroad program directors and university leadership
- Corporate travel and HR leaders
- Parents preparing their children for travel
- Anyone responsible for the safety of individuals abroad
