Medical emergencies on the rise?

[wieslaw]

 

Yes that was the one.

Plus the storm /rain in San Juan and all the flooded streets. Do you remember that ?

But we did what we had to and had a good cruise.

Do not know what the emergencies were but I hope the people were ok once taken to the hospitals.

[Stags14]

Does anyone else feel that diverting the ships for medical emergencies is on the rise? Freedom diverted to Nassau yesterday and had to skip St Thomas due to the delay. They are now in San Juan for the evening before heading off to St Martin tomorrow. I feel for those involved, but it seems to be commonplace these days. My wife was on the Independence TA this May and they were diverted to Nassau as well. Does Nassau have world class medical care that I don't know about. :rolleyes: BTW, they have a helipad, why don't they fly them off and stay on course? I doubt it was included just for folks to have a sail away party. Anyway, can we hear from others who have had to divert in the past year. Or tell me I'm insensitive if you'd like.

 

Incidents have peaks and valleys, seems maybe you are noticing a trend in peaks.

 

It was disappointing not going to St Thomas but life is more valuable than anything.

 

A helicopter was not used likely because of timing and the patients condition. Saving a life is always a priority and all rescues require the acceptance of some level of risk. Money is not an issue, ever. Safety is always an issue but it would be more of a guage on weather conditions, which were perfect. Of course there are flight issues but the pad isn't put there for looks. If they need to use it, they will.

[chengkp75]

Not if they did what he said. He was talking about hovering not landing. He also indicated that the ship turned so the stack exhaust would not flow over the back of the ship. That would indicate turning so the ship would have a cross wind over the ship. Clearly having a cross wind with a helicopter as well as the forward motion of the ship would be a more complex situation so there would have to be a reason for it.

 

If he had said turning the ship into the wind so that it flowed over the back then your would have the helicopter landing situation requiring less forward speed and no cross wind for landing.

 

Now I would doubt that it is a CO2 issue, as much as buffeting from the thermal effect of the exhaust which is the only thing I can think of that would make one be willing to deal with the complexity of a cross wind when dealing with a hover situation over a moving ship.

 

I do know that hot air turbulence an important consideration dealing with oil plat form operations. The following is an extraction from a manual I have on the subject.

 

8 Hot air turbulence

Hot exhaust emission from turbine generators and other types of machinery on the installation, may cause

turbulence. Hot air turbulence is less predictable, and may be a serious risk to helicopter operations.

Hot air flow, combined with a sudden change in air temperature, may have the following two major effects on

the helicopter performance:

• possible momentary stalling of helicopter engines due to sudden air density changes through the

turbinecompressors;

• significantly reduced helicopter lift capacity.

The risk of compressor stalling varies with helicopter type. In most cases it increases significantly with a

momentary temperature increase of 3 °C, or more. The 3 °C isotherm shall therefore be at least 15 m above

the helideck. Correct sizing and location of exhaust stacks relative to the location of the helideck is

imperative. The position of the 3 °C isotherm shall be verified through the CFD analysis.

The presence of hot air flow in the vicinity of the helideck is a major risk factor to helicopter operations, and

shall be given full attention.

 

 

 

I would expect hot exhaust from the ship would pose similar risks.

 

Thanks for the data.

 

I spent 12 years in the offshore oil field, a lot of time spent flying as passenger on helicopters. They typically don't make straight downwind landings, they come in from the same direction most of the time, regardless of wind, due to the presence of obstructions on the rigs.

 

I knew there was a degradation of power/lift when in/near exhaust streams, but I thought it was CO2, not the temperature difference causing compressor stalling. I do know that most oil rig exhausts are directed downwards for just this reason.

 

I've also experienced where we had a cruise ship in drydock, hence stationary, and found that the dock's cranes could not lift the new logo up to the side of the funnel. We arranged for a helicopter to do the lifting, until the pilot found out he would be hovering over a running diesel engine exhaust. Scratch that idea.

 

A typical oil rig may be running 2MW of power if anchored or fixed to the bottom, and 6-8MW if dynamically stationed. Even a single generator on a cruise ship is in the 8-12MW range, and you would be running 2-3 of these at sea, so the heat from a cruise ship exhaust would be many times greater than an oil rig.

Edited September 30, 2014 by chengkp75