Doctors Mallorca and Andalusia

The hospital emergency department is for situations carrying a risk to life or of serious sequelae, the health centre resolves most acute minor problems, and where signs of severity are present the correct action is to call 112 before travelling anywhere.

The European health insurance card entitles the holder to necessary state provided healthcare during a temporary stay, on the same terms as Spanish residents, but it does not cover treatment in private clinics, transport home or repatriation.

British nationals fall into three distinct positions for healthcare in Spain: visitors covered for necessary state care by a UK issued health card, residents covered through their own status, and state pensioners covered through the S1 arrangement funded by the United Kingdom.

Heatstroke is recognised by a body temperature above forty degrees together with an altered mental state, and it is a life threatening emergency requiring a call to 112 and immediate active cooling of the person.

Informed consent requires that before an intervention the patient is told the purpose and nature of the procedure, its typical and personalised risks, its certain consequences and the available alternatives, including the alternative of no treatment.

After a jellyfish sting, leave the water, remove any tentacle remains with a rigid object without rubbing, rinse only with seawater and apply indirect cold, avoiding fresh water because it triggers the stinging cells still on the skin.