Health & Safety Basics

Health & Safety Basics

Student health and safety is a top priority at Whitman. The information below is intended to help guide you in proactive steps for staying healthy and safe abroad. Students should be aware that there are inherent risks associated with any travel, and that neither Whitman College nor the study abroad program they attend can guarantee their safety or eliminate risk. Some destinations may have diseases, pollution and sanitation problems that are not present in the U.S. and existing problems can be exacerbated by conditions in the foreign country.

Steps for Students:

1. Students should disclose any pre-existing medical conditions, disabilities or dietary restrictions to their Whitman OCS adviser and their program provider when in the process of selecting a program to find out if the student’s possible study destinations can provide them with the health care, disability accommodations or dietary options they need.
2. Read carefully all of the health and safety information provided by your OCS program.

3. Check out risks and precautions for your destinations on the following websites:
   • travel.state.gov:This is the main US Department of State website for US citizens traveling abroad. The site has health, safety and security information listed for every country. All study abroad students should read the information about their destination countries carefully. This website also posts Travel Warnings and Travel Alerts for individual countries when problems surface to warn US citizens of the potential risk for travel there.
   • www.cdc.gov: This is the Centers for Disease Control that describes health issues and risks as well as immunization recommendations for individual countries.
   • www.who.org: This the World Health Organization website that posts informative reports and health precaution information when there are disease outbreaks.

4. Download the AlertTraveler app and activate the GPS location option to receive real time information about risks in your location wherever you are worldwide. (This is provided free of charge to all Whitman OCS students.)
5. Register your travel itinerary abroad with STEP, the US Department of State’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program at travel.state.gov. US citizens who have registered will receive security notifications and assistance from local US authorities in the event of an emergency. Family members and students who are non-citizens can also sign up to receive alerts.