Our medical story

[gnocchi_mommy]

I'm glad your daughter is okay.It is a rite of childhood to crack ones head open at least once ;-) Thank goodness you were right there to get her out asap. It's encouraging to read the ships medical staff is so professional!

 

We just got back from our Freedom of the Seas trip. We left 6/22. That night the US was playing Portugal in the World Cup and we went to watch pool side. DS & DD(8) got in the pool, DW & older DD were on deck 12 in chairs, and I was sitting in the pool with the younger ones.

 

DD stood on the underwater ledge and tried to backflip into the pool. I told her she almost completed the backflip, so of course she tries again (yes, bad move on my part). This time, she flips, but doesn't push off enough. Her head hit the ledge. I'm less than two steps from her and pull her up. I'm holding her and calming her down and she finally stops crying.

 

A teenage boy comes over and tells me she's bleeding. Honestly, I hadn't seen it. We immediately get out of the pool and head to the pool bar. We get some napkins (I'm thinking it's just a cut). They call medical, and another passenger who's an ER nurse comes over to help.

 

We finally see the gash on the top of her her head (she's got a lot of hair). We gather our family together as the nurse arrives. She takes us down to the medical facility where we wait for the doctors (they brought both of them in).

 

DD needed a couple stitches under the skin and 6 stitches to her scalp. No pools for two days and no ocean for three.

 

We had checkups on Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. She was cleared to fully swim Thursday morning.

 

The medical staff was wonderful to us. I can't find the discharge papers with the staff names, but they were always calm and did their best to keep DD calm also.

 

Kudos to RCI!

[yukongold]

Thanks for sharing your story. Thankfully you were by the pool. It highlights why we should never leave our young ones unattended by the pool.

It sounds like you had fabulous service by the RCI medical team. I am glad your DD is recovered well.

 

You are right...it is well worth repeating. Also glad that there was a good recovery.

[poncho1973]

And "insanely dangerous" is quite a stretch, you act like the kid was playing in traffic or wandering into the lion enclosure at the zoo. Flipping into a pool is pretty low on the dangerous kid stunt scale. (AGAIN I'm not saying it was a good idea)

 

I suppose that is all relative, but in the US alone 1,800+ people a year suffer serious spinal cord damage from diving into pools. That is 4th behind: auto accidents, falling, and gunshot wounds.

 

https://www.nscisc.uab.edu/reports.aspx

National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center

 

Granted that's only 1,800 a year out of 300,000,000+ Americans, but about 800 of those people were rendered quadriplegics. That's a pretty high ratio of OH CRAP MY LIFE IS FOREVER CHANGED.

 

I'm not busting on the dad, at all. Not in the slightest.

 

I'm just telling you (specifically) that there is a serious reason that nearly every resort pool in America says "NO DIVING" in 2014. It's because it's often a bad injury when an injury happens. This isn't like a sprained wrist or a tender elbow. These are head, neck, and spine injuries.

[poncho1973]

And the recipient of this week's Golden Uterus award is SeagoingMom! Applause and accolades!

 

And this is a special kind of special comment. Wow.

[Big_G]

Another Cruise Critic thread sails off the tracks. OP, I'm glad your daughter is OK but I'm surprised you didn't see the derailment coming. :D

 

Happy and safe sailing.

[BamaGuy44]

 

I'm just telling you (specifically) that there is a serious reason that nearly every resort pool in America says "NO DIVING" in 2014. It's because it's often a bad injury when an injury happens. This isn't like a sprained wrist or a tender elbow. These are head, neck, and spine injuries.

 

I suppose that is all relative, but in the US alone 1,800+ people a year suffer serious spinal cord damage from diving into pools. That is 4th behind: auto accidents, falling, and gunshot wounds.

 

https://www.nscisc.uab.edu/reports.aspx

National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center

 

Granted that's only 1,800 a year out of 300,000,000+ Americans, but about 800 of those people were rendered quadriplegics. That's a pretty high ratio of OH CRAP MY LIFE IS FOREVER CHANGED.

 

I'm not busting on the dad, at all. Not in the slightest.

 

I'm just telling you (specifically) that there is a serious reason that nearly every resort pool in America says "NO DIVING" in 2014. It's because it's often a bad injury when an injury happens. This isn't like a sprained wrist or a tender elbow. These are head, neck, and spine injuries.

 

I understand what you're saying, but we're not talking about diving in head first. That's a separate discussion. The goal of a flip is to land feet first. Could some freak catastrophic injury still occur? Sure. It it safer not to jump into the pool at all? Of course it is.

[SweetpeaOne]

Sorry to hear about your daughter. But am really glad to hear she is doing ok.

[demodawn]

My comment, why are critics saying swallow pool. When I have been in I couldn't touch?

[poncho1973]

I understand what you're saying, but we're not talking about diving in head first. That's a separate discussion. The goal of a flip is to land feet first. Could some freak catastrophic injury still occur? Sure. It it safer not to jump into the pool at all? Of course it is.

 

Simply by noting that the story was she smacked her head on the side of the pool should clear up any confusion in your post above.

 

I would assume you've seen enough youtube videos and/or AFHV shows to know that a lot of "flips" don't come anywhere close to a full 360 degrees from feet to feet.

[BamaGuy44]

Simply by noting that the story was she smacked her head on the side of the pool should clear up any confusion in your post above.

 

I would assume you've seen enough youtube videos and/or AFHV shows to know that a lot of "flips" don't come anywhere close to a full 360 degrees from feet to feet.

 

Of course they don't, but that doesn't make them likely to turn people into paraplegics like diving in head first. I'm not confused at all. I even said it's possible to get seriously hurt, obviously it's still possible to hit your head. But I stand by my assertion that a flip from the side isn't nearly the same as diving in head first. You're welcome to disagree but assuming I can't understand what you're saying, it's a bit insulting.

[awhcruiser]

I agree...A back flip into any pool is not a good idea.

 

I would assume you've seen enough youtube videos and/or AFHV shows to know that a lot of "flips" don't come anywhere close to a full 360 degrees from feet to feet.

[setsail]

We have always thought the medical departments on the ships were great which was a good thing for this child

 

The pools on rci ships are all well marked as to what behavior is expected

 

This clearly explains what the responsibility is of adults looking out for children

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/en_US/pdf/Guest_Conduct_Policy.pdf

[marci22]

My comment, why are critics saying swallow pool. When I have been in I couldn't touch?

 

wait. what?

 

oh, shallow.

Edited July 3, 2014 by marci22