Off the Grid with the Kids

A guide to foreign travel, distant from modern medical resources, this book covers the presentation of common medical problems in children, as well as diseases encountered in distant countries. It provides advice on immunizations, hydration, and resources for communication and evacuation. The drug treatment of children is explained, with a glossary of drugs and pediatric dosages, based on weight. Guidance is provided for when local medical resources or distant support may be needed.

Drawing on his career-long experience of foreign travel with young children, as well as his practice of medicine overseas, Dr. LaGrone provides a common sense guide to the care of children distant from modern medical resources. Beginning with immunizations, diet, and drinking water safety, he covers resources for communication and medical evacuation. An extensive array of common symptoms such as cough, ear pain, diarrhea, and fever are explained, along with their management. The stabilization of fractures and the treatment of lacerations, puncture wounds, and burns are explained. In the later section of the book descriptions of diseases prevalent in distant regions are covered, with their management and drug treatment. An extensive glossary of pediatric drugs and their recommended doses is included, as well as sources of more detailed information.

Doctor LaGrone graduated with honors from Tulane University and Tulane School of Medicine. After his internship, he married and served for three years as Staff Medical Officer for US Peace Corps operations in Southern Africa. With his wife and 2-year-old son, he traveled extensively throughout Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, and Malawi. The family also took numerous camping trips to the heart of Botswana. At the end of his contract, they traveled overland through Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Malawi, and Zimbabwe before returning to Portland, Oregon, for two years of pediatric residency. In 1979, with their 18-month-old daughter and 6-year-old son, they moved to Pago Pago, American Samoa, where Dr. LaGrone served as Chief of Pediatrics for the LBJ Tropical Medical Center. At the conclusion of his 3-year contract, they traveled overland through Java, Bali, and New Guinea. In New Guinea, they became a friend's sailboat crew and sailed to North Australia. After taking on provisions in Darwin, they sailed 7,500 miles across the Indian Ocean to Durban, South Africa. Upon their return, Dr. LaGrone settled in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, where he practiced pediatrics for 25 years. As a member of the rapid deployment roster for Medical Teams International, he served for a month in Port au Prince, Haiti, after their catastrophic earthquake and again nine months later to treat Cholera on Haiti's north coast. He also deployed to the Philippians in the wake of supertyphoon Haiyan. As he neared retirement, Dr. LaGrone sailed from Florida through the Bahamas into the Caribbean for 5 months each year. Certified by the American Board of Pediatrics and a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Dr. LaGrone has broad experience with travel distant from modern medical resources. He is at once a pediatrician who loves travel and a world traveler who loves pediatrics. He is now retired, living in Saint Petersburg, Florida, near his daughter and grandchildren.