SETTLING IN - CultureShock! A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette - page 129

original, labelled containers. But pay attention to new and
changing regulations concerning liquids and creams in your
hand baggage: how much you may carry and how they
must be packaged.
Bring enough medication to tide you over until you have
found a doctor and pharmacy of your own, and until you
can determine which medications require prescriptions
and which do not. Ask your physician to give you copies of
records concerning ongoing treatments and to write new
prescriptions using both the trade and generic name of
the medication.
Many of the pharmacies listed in this chapter can translate
the prescription into the French equivalent. Bring a copy of
your eyeglass prescription and an extra pair of glasses or
contact lenses.
For the Children
Obtain a copy of your children's vaccination and health
records and make sure all inoculations are current. For a
child to enter a crèche or school, DPT and polio vaccinations
are required, as is a tuberculosis vaccination through the BCG
combination; vaccinations for rougeole (measles), rubéole
(German measles), oreillons (mumps) and Hepatitis B are
recommended but optional. See 'Vaccination Centres' on
page 123.
Check with your pediatrician to determine what you
should have with you before you find a pediatrician in Paris.
If your child has a health emergency before you are set up
with a local doctor, go to a hospital (listed on page 127 by
specialty) or call SOS Pédiatrie for an urgent house call by
a pediatrician (tel: [phone]). Lastly, if you prefer to
read a thermometer in Fahrenheit rather than centigrade,
you might think about bringing one with you.
Once you are enrolled in the French health plan, your
child will be issued a carnet de santé , which records all
major health information, including vaccinations. The
carnet is issued by the mairie of your arrondissement and is
a permanent record of a child's health-related events from
birth to age 16.