When you are preparing an extended stay business trip, whether in your home country or abroad, it is common to draw up a contingency plan in order to prepare for certain problems that may occur along the way. These problems may include what to do if you get separated from the group, if there is a natural disaster, and even in today's uncertain world what to do in case of a terrorist attack. However, there is one situation that may occur more often than you think that is hardly ever anticipated, and that is the abrupt death of a colleague during your stay.

If your business stay is not too far away, the death of a business colleague will typically mean putting off the meeting until the situation is taken care of and a replacement can be found. However, in cases where a lot of time, money, and effort have been put into a business trip, such as an important meeting with business partners or clients in another country, putting things off until the situation has been taken care of is not usually an option.

People can die suddenly for a number of reasons, as it is possible to have a medical condition without knowing about it. Heart attacks and brain aneurysms are common reasons for an instant and unexpected death that we often do not even think about. Obviously coping with this unfortunate event will be much more difficult for you if you were close to the colleague, and going on with business as usual will not be as easy.

The first thing you will obviously want to do if a colleague dies during an extended stay business trip is to call an ambulance so he or she may be taken to a hospital. Your colleague may only be unconscious and in desperate need of prompt medical attention. If you do not know the emergency number in the country where you are staying, a phone book may be of service, or the staff at the hotel where you are staying.

Next, it is important that you place a call to your boss or supervisor and inform them of what happened. They will be able to inform your colleague's next of kin as well as work out a plan for how the business trip should proceed. It is important not to tell them that your colleague has died unless you have received an official statement from a doctor. You don't want to cause the family any unnecessary grief if you happen to be wrong.

Once this has been taken care of, you are left with the difficult task of going on with the business meeting. You may be able to receive a few extra days to cope with the event by calling up the client you are scheduled to meet with and explaining to them what happened. However, make sure you do this only with the approval of your superior, as they may want to keep unfortunate events such as this in secret.