By Gregory Nassief, Founder & CEO, Six Kind
A few years ago, preparing a student or staff member for international travel looked like this: double-check their passport, scan the insurance card, and remind them to keep the emergency contact sheet on hand.
But that model—familiar, simple, and deeply inadequate—belongs to another era.
Today, the stakes have changed. The risks have multiplied. And the standard for what constitutes real safety has shifted beneath our feet.
We see this shift every week at Six Kind. Parents calling from thousands of miles away, unable to reach their child’s program contact. Business travelers disoriented in unfamiliar ERs with no local assistance. Program directors improvising support under pressure because the “plan” was just a page in a manual.
These moments do not happen in the abstract. They happen in places like rural Cambodia, where Lauren, a 21-year-old study abroad student, developed typhoid fever while volunteering on a water project. The group leader, with no clinical background and no crisis protocol, attempted to transport her hours by car to a hospital that lacked diagnostic equipment, language support, and infection control capacity. Her mother, back in Michigan, had no direct line to the facility, and no way to know if her daughter was getting help or falling through the cracks.
When we received the call, our team initiated a cross-border response within minutes: on-the-ground triage, transfer to a JCI-accredited hospital in Phnom Penh, mental health stabilization, and an escorted return home. Lauren recovered. But what haunts me is what would have happened if no one had answered that call.
That is the real measure of preparedness: What happens in the first hour of a crisis—before the insurance company calls back, before anyone clarifies legal liability, before the story becomes a case study.
The failure point in most programs is not intent. It is infrastructure.
Too many institutions are still relying on a patchwork of documents, insurance policies, and overseas partners to simulate a system. But a duty of care built on delegation is no duty at all.
This is not just my perspective—it is the direction of global policy.
ISO 31030, the international standard for travel risk management, calls for an integrated framework to address health, security, cultural, and logistical risks for all travelers under an organization’s care. Compliance means having a plan that activates in real time, with defined escalation paths, mental health considerations, and continuity protocols.
In higher education, The Carey Act requires universities to transparently disclose their emergency planning for study abroad programs. Institutions that assure there is a safety net where none exists may be exposing themselves to more than just moral failure. They could be opening the door to legal liability.
Add to this the broader context: the World Health Organization continues to warn of growing regional disparities in care access. Rural hospitals, especially in Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, often lack accredited staff, English-language support, and emergency readiness. And according to the American Psychological Association, nearly half of students studying abroad report mental health distress—often triggered by illness, isolation, or a breakdown in support.
The illusion of safety—through a travel policy or insurance packet—is just that: an illusion.
Real duty of care means a student does not get left alone in a clinic they cannot understand. It means an employee can get to the right hospital before their condition worsens. It means families don’t have to navigate a global health emergency over WhatsApp at 3 a.m.
It means there is someone to call—and someone who can act.
If you are a university administrator, a global mobility leader, or a parent sending your child overseas, the question is not whether you have an emergency contact. Do you have a system that works before the system fails?
📘 Download our guide: What to Do If You’re Sick or Injured Abroad https://sixkind.com/free-guide-how-to-navigate-medical-safety-risks-abroad/
💬 Ready to review your readiness? Schedule a consult with our team.https://outlook.office365.com/book/GregoryNassief@sixkind.com/s/NBkUQeuuUk2dJ_cj2dkO8w2?ismsaljsauthenabled=true
FAQ: Duty of Care Is Evolving — Are You Keeping Up?
Q1: What does “duty of care” mean in the context of student and business travel?
Duty of care is the legal and ethical responsibility organizations have to safeguard the health, safety, and well-being of anyone they send abroad—students, employees, volunteers, or program participants. It extends beyond providing insurance to include real-time planning, communication, and coordination before, during, and after travel.
Q2: Why is duty of care more important now?
According to the World Health Organization, access to emergency medical care is shrinking in rural and developing regions, while the CDC reports rising rates of infectious diseases like typhoid and dengue. Combined with the APA’s finding that 42 percent of students abroad experience significant mental health distress, institutions are facing a more complex risk environment than ever before.
Q3: What are ISO 31030 and the Carey Act, and why do they matter?
- ISO 31030 sets global standards for travel risk management, requiring structured frameworks for assessing and mitigating threats to travelers.
- The Carey Act obliges U.S. colleges and universities to establish and disclose emergency procedures for students abroad. Both establish a baseline for compliance—and a higher bar for accountability.
Q4: Isn’t travel insurance enough protection?
No. Insurance reimburses after the fact—it does not coordinate care, arrange transfers, translate medical information, or advocate for travelers in real time. True duty of care is proactive, human-centered, and operationally integrated.
Q5: What steps can institutions take to strengthen their duty of care?
Start with three essentials:
- Conduct a risk audit of current travel support systems.
- Establish 24/7 real-time coordination capacity (internally or through a partner).
- Ensure clear communication and escalation protocols across departments and destinations.
