medical need for passenger on Equinox

[Shortycruiser]

hello everyone. Just got off the Equinox yesterday and as usual, had a nice trip. While on board the captain came on with a urgent request for anyone with negative O type blood and with a donor card your help is needed immediately. Does anyone know how the passenger is that needed a blood transfusion while on board. For those that volunteered and donated blood a special thank you. I can't imagine how the family feels. Have not been able to stop thinking about it. We also had a passenger leave the ship in Cozumel by ambulance. Hope everything turned out well for everyone.

[Chunky2219]

How great is it that the medical centre is set up to deal with issues so serious that someone needs a blood transfusion? There's always the niggling worry that if your're at sea they can deal with minor issues but if anything big crops up you are going to be in trouble.

 

Although I hope that whoever it was came out of it okay, it's very reassuring that they were in a position to address the problem.

 

 

.

[greydog]

We were on Galaxy Trans-Atl midway from U.S.A. to Europe when a passenger needed life-saving meds for some pre-existing condition. The ship stopped and a fixed-wing US Coast Guard plane air dropped meds that the tender retrieved. Passenger recovered but left ship at next stop. For us, best cruise ever from Galveston Tx to Rome Italy, 16 days, ocean calm as a pond, balmy breezes.

"Please sir, may I have some more?"

Edited December 10, 2016 by greydog

[easyboy]

Always feels good to save a life. Kudos to the Captain and his medical team.

 

 

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[bananawindnj]

We were on the Equinox on the Thanksgiving 10 day cruise.

On the first night out we had to divert to Miami from Ft Lauderdale because a women supposedly got caught in the elevator doors and broke her hip and and a leg. Later in the cruise a man at a beach died of a heart attack. Sad !

I am sure some type of serious event happens on most cruises , as most are older people at higher risks than the general population.

[greydog]

We were on the Equinox on the Thanksgiving 10 day cruise.

On the first night out we had to divert to Miami from Ft Lauderdale because a women supposedly got caught in the elevator doors and broke her hip and and a leg. Later in the cruise a man at a beach died of a heart attack. Sad !

I am sure some type of serious event happens on most cruises , as most are older people at higher risks than the general population.

 

I read quite an eye-opening discussion/statistics on the Cunard board a while back regarding the 100+day world cruise, given the average advanced ages onboard. Maybe not such a bad way to go.

[Kartgv]

....I am sure some type of serious event happens on most cruises , as most are older people at higher risks than the general population.

 

While your statement is undoubtedly correct, it's not only older folks that can have medical emergencies at sea. A couple of years ago, we were on a Princess South Pacific/Hawaii cruise roundtrip out of Los Angeles. There were 8 consecutive sea days on the return to LA, and on the 2nd day out, we had to turn back to the French Marquesas for a medical emergency. We eventually learned that it was a 23 year old crew member with a ruptured appendix. The ship was a full day late getting back to LA, which meant 'broken' travel plans for all the passengers onboard as well as those who had planned on boarding for the next cruise - it cost Princess a small fortune. People were understandably unhappy about the need to make new arrangements, but everyone was very happy to learn that the crew member recovered.

[H2OH!]

hello everyone. Just got off the Equinox yesterday and as usual, had a nice trip. While on board the captain came on with a urgent request for anyone with negative O type blood and with a donor card your help is needed immediately. Does anyone know how the passenger is that needed a blood transfusion while on board. For those that volunteered and donated blood a special thank you. I can't imagine how the family feels. Have not been able to stop thinking about it. We also had a passenger leave the ship in Cozumel by ambulance. Hope everything turned out well for everyone.

 

This makes me wonder how they screen the blood for infectious diseases, HIV etc prior to administration and verify is correct blood type (type and screen appropriately). Granted, someone with a donor card has had previous donations screened but ....

Edited December 10, 2016 by H2OH!

[ducklite]

This makes me wonder how they screen the blood for infectious diseases, HIV etc prior to administration and verify is correct blood type (type and screen appropriately). Granted, someone with a donor card has had previous donations screened but ....

 

 

 

Think about it this way, if someone was that seriously in need of blood that a call came out for it onboard, the person was going to die without it. Calculated risk says to save the life and worry about the slim possibility that someone who is a regular donor with a donor card might pass on a disease, most of which can be controlled with medication and allow the patient to lead a long full life.

 

 

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[gdpups]

Several years ago I was traveling with a few friends and one of them, early

50's, started becoming very lightheaded the first day on the ship. That evening after we left Ft Lauderdale I convinced her to see the ship doctor and it was discovered she had a bleeding ulcer, she'd never had one before. She had lost a great deal of blood and needed a transfusion.

 

We were about 70 miles from Miami at the time and the cruise line had her transported back to Miami by helicopter. We were advised if we had been out to sea when it happened they would have had to use blood from the crew for the transfusion. This occurred on a Holland America ship, so it appears Celebrity uses passenger blood instead.

 

My friend was advised the transport could cost $60,000 and unfortunately she had not purchased travel insurance. Lucky for her the Coast Guard was available, so there was no cost for the transport, but she will never travels without insurance again.

[bobndee]

On our transatlantic in April, we made an unscheduled stop in the Azores to drop off a sick and/or injured passenger. On the same cruise we had to return to the port of Vigo Spain to drop off another passenger. At a third port there was an ambulance waiting to take yet another passenger. It's a good thing the cruise finished a few days later or there would have been no passengers left! :eek:

 

On a RCCL cruise some years ago, the hotel director suffered (we were told) a heart attack. They didn't airlift him off but increased speed to get to San Juan much earlier than planned.

 

Medical emergencies happen on a ship, probably more frequently than we realize. When you think of the number of people aboard, crew and passengers, it's the equivalent of a decent-sized town.

[cb at sea]

They asked for a donor with a Red Cross donor card....that shows they've been screened, so I guess that lessens the chances...if you've been a donor before.

 

Nothing is 100%, tho....but loss of blood can kill you...better to take the chance and deal with any potential disease than die outright!

[SirWolf]

The donor's blood can be screened prior to transfusion.

Infectious diseases rapid tests, including tests for HIV,

are available and can be done quick within 15 to 30

minutes.

[Mynki]

I read quite an eye-opening discussion/statistics on the Cunard board a while back regarding the 100+day world cruise, given the average advanced ages onboard. Maybe not such a bad way to go.

 

An old co worker of mine used to work for a very well known cruise line when he was much younger. He told me that the staff used to take bets on "the number of stiffs in the freezer..." on the longer cruises.

 

This isn't the most happy, cheery web site you'll ever read. In fact be warned it might even upset a few people, but it separates the urban myths from reality and puts things into perspective :-

 

http://www.cruiseshipdeaths.com/

Edited December 11, 2016 by Mynki

[madmedic]

Many years ago a man using the treadmills on an Ocean Village cruise off Belize collapsed and stopped breathing next to me. Fortunately I am a trained medic and started CPR and applied the De-fib machine. He was conscious and talking as they took him off the ship but I was never able to find out if he made it. Out of interest the first question the ship's doctor asked me when she arrived on scene was "Does this guy have insurance?" I have always thought that health insurance was a condition of booking cruises or is it just for us brits

[ClaudiaB]

We were on the Equinox on the Thanksgiving 10 day cruise.

On the first night out we had to divert to Miami from Ft Lauderdale because a women supposedly got caught in the elevator doors and broke her hip and and a leg. Later in the cruise a man at a beach died of a heart attack. Sad !

I am sure some type of serious event happens on most cruises , as most are older people at higher risks than the general population.

 

You know, she was reported to be doing ok but then we heard she passed away later. We were on that cruise as well. Something always on every cruise we've been on, to be expected with 3000 people.

[easyboy]

Many years ago a man using the treadmills on an Ocean Village cruise off Belize collapsed and stopped breathing next to me. Fortunately I am a trained medic and started CPR and applied the De-fib machine. He was conscious and talking as they took him off the ship but I was never able to find out if he made it. Out of interest the first question the ship's doctor asked me when she arrived on scene was "Does this guy have insurance?" I have always thought that health insurance was a condition of booking cruises or is it just for us brits

Not required here in the US. Personally, hope it is, as it helped me before for non-medical reason.

[dpetersp]

On our transatlantic in April, we made an unscheduled stop in the Azores to drop off a sick and/or injured passenger. On the same cruise we had to return to the port of Vigo Spain to drop off another passenger. At a third port there was an ambulance waiting to take yet another passenger. It's a good thing the cruise finished a few days later or there would have been no passengers left! :eek:

 

On a RCCL cruise some years ago, the hotel director suffered (we were told) a heart attack. They didn't airlift him off but increased speed to get to San Juan much earlier than planned.

 

Medical emergencies happen on a ship, probably more frequently than we realize. When you think of the number of people aboard, crew and passengers, it's the equivalent of a decent-sized town.

 

We were on that April TA. In addition to all that, we were told that someone died before we even left port in Ft. Lauderdale, and that's why we were a little late leaving.

Edited December 20, 2016 by dpetersp

[Lastdance]

While your statement is undoubtedly correct, it's not only older folks that can have medical emergencies at sea. A couple of years ago, we were on a Princess South Pacific/Hawaii cruise roundtrip out of Los Angeles. There were 8 consecutive sea days on the return to LA, and on the 2nd day out, we had to turn back to the French Marquesas for a medical emergency. We eventually learned that it was a 23 year old crew member with a ruptured appendix. The ship was a full day late getting back to LA, which meant 'broken' travel plans for all the passengers onboard as well as those who had planned on boarding for the next cruise - it cost Princess a small fortune. People were understandably unhappy about the need to make new arrangements, but everyone was very happy to learn that the crew member recovered.

 

 

Not getting medical attention with a ruptured appendix can be life-threatening; so much poison going through your system can kill you...

 

 

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[Lastdance]

Not getting medical attention with a ruptured appendix can be life-threatening; so much poison going through your system can kill you, especially if you are not in decent physical condition...

 

 

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