How Obama gets health care when traveling abroad

The White House physicians are all military personnel and are positioned to survive if the President's car is bombed.

A nurse from the White House Medical Unit gives President Obama an injection. Photo: White House

The White House Medical Unit (WHMU) is a unit of the White House Military Office responsible for the medical care of the president, vice president, and visiting officials.

According to the LA Times, on foreign trips, two medical teams usually accompany the president. One team flies with the president on the day of the visit, while the other team arrives in the host country to set up medical equipment. This way, the president always has a team of doctors and nurses who are rested and ready to go. When Mr. Obama visited the UK in 2011, six doctors accompanied him, according to the Telegraph.

To prepare for a foreign trip, a White House team surveys the city and its surroundings, assesses medical facilities, and meets with host country doctors. “While the Secret Service is scanning for bombs and ammunition, we are checking for bugs and checking the environment,” writes Dr. Connie Mariano, who cared for Bill Clinton and George Bush.

The US president's Air Force One has medical equipment to be converted into an operating room if necessary. It carries medicines and blood for the president and first lady. According to the Telegraph, the medical team always carries AB blood - Mr. Obama's blood type - in case of assassination or serious accident.

In 1994, when Bill Clinton was planning a trip abroad, Dr. Mariano said that Bob Ramsey, a colonel and blood specialist, had sent doctors at the host country's hospital the wrong blood type—a potentially fatal medical error. Ramsey was later fired.

During the Clinton administration, a White House physician and nurse often accompanied the first lady when she traveled abroad without the president. However, she did not have a medical team with her during her normal day-to-day activities, said Rob Darling, who served as physician to former President Clinton.

In 2009, when asked about the arrangements for Michelle Obama, a White House spokesman refused to answer.

All White House physicians are combat-trained military medics. They also undergo an additional year of training when they join the White House medical unit.

Doctors see their role as akin to secret agents in "keeping the government running," protecting the country's leaders not only from assassination but also from illnesses such as heart attacks and cancer, according to Darling.

When traveling with the president's motorcade, doctors and nurses are positioned just outside the "death zone" - as close to the president as possible but far enough away to have a chance of surviving being hit by a stray bullet or a bomb in the presidential limousine.

Medical workers often wear civilian clothes, as those in military uniform are more vulnerable targets.

“You can’t treat the president if you’re dead,” Ms. Mariano said.

According to VNE