What would have happened?

[Seenie]

This winter, my DH was feeling "off" for a few days, and then he developed severe abdominal pain. When he went to the emergency clinic, he was treated as urgent, diagnosed with appendicitis, and he had emergency surgery within a few hours. (And he recovered quickly.)

 

But .. last fall we did a TA, and spent a glorious week at sea. WHAT IF he had been "off" for a couple of days and he had had that crisis on the 3rd day of the transatlantic crossing?

 

What would have happened to him if this had occurred at the mid-point of the voyage?

 

Experiences?

[shof515]

visit ship doctor.Depending how extreme his condition is and the doctors experience, there could be a medical evacuation by helicopter

[LHT28]

I imagine an air/sea rescue may have been in order

 

We had a friend sailing across to the Azores with someone on a 40ft sailboat

He ran into some medical issues mid Atlantic & was picked up by helicopter to a U.S navy supply in the area

Taken to a hospital in Virginia I believe it was

He was well looked after on the navy ship after they dunked him in the sea during the rescue :D

[paul929207]

I don't think an air/sea rescue is possible in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

[cb at sea]

They would have tried to diagnose him, and would have put him off in the next port for medical treatment....the ship is NOT equipped for surgery...at least, not unless death is imminent!

You would have benefitted from medical insurance coverage, had this happened!

[STARFISH*4]

if you have Travel insurance no matter what you are breathin a bit easier, but if not:eek:

 

its those WHAT IFs that can and do happen and is the REASON for INSURANCE!!

[Latitude 20]

According to this article (http://news.nurse.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2002207150324) some ships are capable of performing emergency surgery:

 

"The medical staff members were able to start IVs, insert foley catheters, suture, set broken bones, run codes, administer emergency medications, and even perform emergency surgery - and during my visit, one appendectomy needed to be done stat!"

[uppitycats]

This winter, my DH was feeling "off" for a few days, and then he developed severe abdominal pain. When he went to the emergency clinic, he was treated as urgent, diagnosed with appendicitis, and he had emergency surgery within a few hours. (And he recovered quickly.)

 

But .. last fall we did a TA, and spent a glorious week at sea. WHAT IF he had been "off" for a couple of days and he had had that crisis on the 3rd day of the transatlantic crossing?

 

What would have happened to him if this had occurred at the mid-point of the voyage?

 

Experiences?

 

It depends on the cruise line -- some have better medical facilities than others -- and exactly where you were..

 

but it's most likely he would have been airlifted to the nearest land hospital -- very expensive, and at your cost.

[Seenie]

Eeeeee....airlifted to the nearest land hospital from mid-atlantic????:eek:

 

Has anyone ever seen or heard of this?

[caa]

Eeeeee....airlifted to the nearest land hospital from mid-atlantic????:eek:

 

Has anyone ever seen or heard of this?

 

How about from the mid-Pacific? There's a story here that's mainly about the Reagan rescuing a teenager, but it also mentions at the bottom of the story that ABC reporter Dan Adams was rescued by Blackhawk helicopters from a ship that was 1500 miles offshore.

[PennyAgain]

The recently retired QE2 had an unusually good hospital facility and could handle quite a bit of difficulty with illnesses and injuries. One trip I was on a badly injured sailor from a freighter was brought to the QE2 for emergency care as both the QE2 and the freighter were far out of range of land.

 

Most cruise ships are not in that league these days.

 

There is actually an area in the middle of trans-Atlantic crossings where no evacuations are possible. Something to think about if you or a member of your party has health issues.

[kitty9]

I don't think an air/sea rescue is possible in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

 

Yes, it's possible. I was on a crossing on Crystal when a 99 year old woman fell and broke her hip, three days into our cruise. The captain announced we were turning around, and going top speed towards the Canary Islands. When we reached the outer limits to where an evac helicopter could meet the ship, the woman and her 77 year old daughter were lifted off the ship. At 3am, a lot of us were up and out on deck, and in the Palm Court, watching it all happen. It was fascinating to watch.

 

It was an interesting cruise as we also rescued a sailor whose boat was hit by a tanker and was sinking.

[Cru1s1ng2009]

I think they look for docs with emergency and field hospital knowledge simply for the fact that sometimes they have to 'make due' with what they have.

 

For instance, we had to visit once and found out the doc was a g.p. but had been a medic in dessert storm. he fashioned something with a coat hanger for dd. He also said he was able to perform all kinds of minor emegency surgeries and liked seeing more than the nausea and slip n fall cases.

[Cru1s1ng2009]

:Dhe didnt charge us