Please translate Medic Alerts into Arabic.

April 9, 2010 8:40 PM

Medical translation filter: I'm off to the Middle East and Europe. Small concern - I have a collection of allergies that would need to be known in an emergency, especially as I'll be in a few remote places. What do I put on a medic alert band in Arabic countries? (Help with notes for wallet card also appreciated!)

I'm allergic to latex and sulphur preservatives, shell fish and sulphur drugs. Latex and adhesives are probably the critical ones here - no band-aids for me, I'm afraid.

I'm also gluten, dairy, soy, and salicylite intolerant (so need to have on wallet card, but not as urgent).

Hivemind, please help me find the text that will keep me safe on my travels!

(FWIW: Countries visited include Jordan, Yemen, Egypt, Israel. Also Germany, Switzerland.)

posted by liss to travel & transportation (10 answers total)

Here's a site that mentions food allergy translation cards. I can't help with the translation, but make sure you carry an Epipen with you and a note from your doctor (airlines won't give you a hassle about an Epipen as long as it has a prescription label in your name).
posted by amyms at 10:15 PM on April 9, 2010

Sorry if I'm misunderstanding your question but are you asking what languages you should have food allergy in?

If that's the question: Israel would be Hebrew and possibly Arabic. Jordan and Yemen, I'm not sure though I would think Arabic.

Switzerland has four official languages: French, Italian, German, and Romansch.

And Germany obviously has German.
posted by dfriedman at 6:09 AM on April 10, 2010

Have you asked your doctor? You can't be the first person to travel with allergies, but I'd be very careful just buying off the internet in languages I can't read without the place I'm buying from coming strongly recommended.
posted by cestmoi15 at 6:12 AM on April 10, 2010

More how do I write "I'm allergic to latex, sulfur... etc" in Arabic.
posted by liss at 6:46 AM on April 10, 2010

More how do I write "I'm allergic to latex, sulfur... etc" in Arabic.

By hiring a translator. Seriously. I had to have some medical documents translated for visa purposes when I went to Russia. There are professional translation services who will do this for a pretty cheap price, and I really would use one of those as opposed to asking on the internet. You want to make sure what you have is right, and a professional translation service will be equipped to handle that.
posted by zizzle at 8:33 AM on April 10, 2010

I can't help with the translation - my Arabic is not good enough. But you need to know that in the Middle East, most people aren't that familiar with the concept and implications of allergies. I worked leading tourists around this area, and when securing for translations for people with severe allergies, I found it wasn't enough to say 'I am allergic to x,y and z'. You need to be dramatic and specific.

For example:
I am allergic to x,y and z. If I eat anything with x,y and z in it, I might die.

You need to be clear that you should have no contact with your allergens - people will otherwise assume a little bit won't hurt, or that you're just another crazy tourist who doesn't like to eat those things, but that they won't really hurt you. Once people realize that, they will be very accomodating.

Also, you may very well need more than one Arabic translation, although you can probably get help locally wherever you are staying. Jordan and Egypt aren't too different, and people there tend to understand the other dialect, but the Arabic of Egypt and Yemen are VERY different, and may very well use different names for your allergies.
posted by scrute at 8:43 AM on April 10, 2010

Oh....

And take more than one Epi-pen. Given the number of allergies you have, there is a distinct possibility that you will need to use one at some point, which would leave you stuck without one for the rest of your trip.

Especially with latex - people in Egypt and Jordan won't even really know where latex is and isn't and you may come into contact with some accidentally.
posted by scrute at 8:46 AM on April 10, 2010

I'm allergic to latex and sulphur preservatives, shell fish and sulphur drugs.

Translated correctly is:

عندي حساسية عاليتكس و الصلفا الحافظ، الصدفيات، و الأدوية التي تحتوي علا الصلفا
posted by gman at 10:41 AM on April 10, 2010

gman's sounds right except for the sulphur. I dont know about it in a medical context, so it might be different, but as far as I'm aware it would be كبريت in Arabic.

So that would give:

عندي حساسية عاليتكس و كبريت الحافظ، الصدفيات، و الأدوية التي تحتوي علا كبريت

I'd also recommend having it in English.
posted by xqwzts at 11:06 AM on April 10, 2010

Thank you all - help is much appreciated.
posted by liss at 4:06 PM on April 10, 2010