LONDON, October 24, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

April International UK has spotlighted the importance of the added value benefits it offers alongside all new policies taken out with details of an emergency which one of its partners, the Blood Care Foundation, played a key role in resolving.

The Blood Care Foundation is a charity which sources and supplies screened blood worldwide on a not-for-profit basis, working alongside international private health insurers, their assistance companies and local hospitals.

Whilst on holiday in Mexico, an 18 year old male fell from the seventh floor balcony of his flat and landed on his feet, which resulted in severe compression fractures. His blood group was the rare group O negative - only 7% of the population have this group. As O negative blood can be given to anyone, it is used heavily and so is often the blood group in the shortest supply amongst the eight main blood types. His condition too meant that he was too ill to evacuate to any nearby country which would have clean supplies of the correct blood, so the Blood Care Foundation was contacted and they were able to supply lifesaving blood from a centre in Florida. The patient was stabilised locally in Mexico and thanks to the availability of the blood, made a full recovery.

Joe Thomas, April International UK's Business Development Director comments, "This case highlights the importance of blood. Without an organisation such as the Blood Care Foundation, as insurers, we would find it harder to offer effective treatment to seriously injured clients in countries where the quality of local blood is problematic. These are often destinations which are important for expatriate workers too, so our tie up with Blood Care Foundation is an important one for us."

Julian Bruce, Chief Executive of the Blood Care Foundation adds, "We are a not for profit organisation which specialises in supplying blood and selected other products, such as rabies immunoglobulin. The Foundation has access to a global network of blood banks, enabling it to provide blood to almost any location in the world within 12-18 hours, subject to the availability of schedule air services.

Joe Thomas ends, "Adding relevant benefits to our policies is a win-win for clients - it means we have greater chance of being able to offer treatment locally, so the cost and inconvenience of medical evacuation can be avoided, which in turn keep costs down. As an organisation, cost control is a vital focus for us, as it allows us to offer lower cost premiums in the long run."

April International UK offers a range of standout added value benefits on all policies taken out including Best Doctors, red24 services and The Blood Care Foundation. Best Doctors gives clients access to a free second professional medical opinion, whilst red24 offers clients complimentary access to their extensive global travel and risk management services.

Note to Editors 

April International UK Limited (until recently known as MediCare International) is part of the April Group which was founded in France more than 35 years ago. It is an internationally known and respected insurance services group with operations in 37 different countries, looking after close to 6 million policyholders worldwide, consisting of some 86 different nationalities located in more than 120 countries.  

April International UK are specialists in designing and delivering outstanding, flexible international health insurance solutions for individuals and companies, with long term, short term and student healthcare plans available.

All April International UK plans include the additional services of Best Doctors (second medical opinion), Blood Care Foundation (screened blood available worldwide) and RED24 (crisis management specialists)

Cover under group plans may also available for local nationals. Discounted group rates start with 3 lives and full medical history disregarded underwriting is available on groups of 10 or more employees, making April International one of the most competitive group cover providers.

April International UK Limited is an Appointed Representative of APRIL Medibroker Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered Office: Minster House, 42 Mincing Lane, London, EC3R 7AE, United Kingdom ∙ Registered in England No7261287.

SOURCE APRIL International UK