Emergencies at Sea

Ever wondered what happened if you were in the middle of the Ocean and there was an emergency on board the ship what would happen ?

We have had a few over the years that we have experienced ( not us personally ) but never felt the urge to talk about it before. On our recent cruise, we had more than one not all serious but enough to have ambulances waiting in the ports on arrival. Until our last day which was a sea day, half of the deck had been closed off in the morning and then there was a couple of items on the planner cancelled before the cruise director actually made the announcement that a fellow passenger and family member were being airlifted off the ship. It’s a horrible thought that someone who you could have been speaking to had become so ill. Its also not that nice to watch and left me wondering what was the condition of the passenger as to be lifted to a helicopter for a well person could be traumatic!!


It left me really intrigued so I did a little research and found the information below to share…

Usually on a cruise ship you will have at least one doctor and two nurses onboard although the larger ships will have more and they will be on call 24 hours. The medical centres in case you didn’t know are usually on one of the lowest decks. The medical staff onboard must have completed the required number of years of training in a recognized school of medicine. They must also be able to perform advanced life support practices, emergency cardiovascular care and minor surgical procedures. They are expected to stabilize seriously ill patients, perform reasonable diagnostic and therapeutic interventions, and help evacuate seriously sick or injured patients. Doctors and nurses also are required to be fluent in the predominant language of the ship.
If a life-threatening injury or illness, such as a serious fall or heart attack, occurs, cruise ship doctors are unlikely to fully treat a patient onboard, choosing instead to send the passenger to a land-based medical facility.

I also wondered who paid for the helicopter? It was the coastguard that collected them but when researching this it looks like this is something that would need to paid for, I can’t imagine the costs involved in this so you definitely need to make sure that you have up to date and valid insurance.

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About Me

Hi my name is Erica although most people know me as Betsy which is my work name, welcome to my cruise page. I  have been in the travel industry for coming up to 30 years. I started my career in a small independent travel agent, where I went on work experience and…

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