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Samaritans aboard

balf

By balf,
in Cunard Line

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balf

balf

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The reports here about the sad death on a Cunard ship made me wonder if it could be possible to have a number to ring, as Samaritans ashore, to provide a contact for the suicidal. Of course we don't know the circumstances of the lady, but I am sure there are passengers who take a cruise thinking this will solve their problems and find it makes things worse.

 

It would cost the cruise lines nothing and could, hopefully save at least some of the 20 suicides yearly from cruise ships.

 

DAVID.

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Lanky Lad

Lanky Lad

Posted
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The reports here about the sad death on a Cunard ship made me wonder if it could be possible to have a number to ring, as Samaritans ashore, to provide a contact for the suicidal. Of course we don't know the circumstances of the lady, but I am sure there are passengers who take a cruise thinking this will solve their problems and find it makes things worse.

 

It would cost the cruise lines nothing and could, hopefully save at least some of the 20 suicides yearly from cruise ships.

 

DAVID.

 

I am guessing there would have been a priest or vicar on board as it's the Christmas cruise.

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GUT2407

GUT2407

Posted
Posted
The reports here about the sad death on a Cunard ship made me wonder if it could be possible to have a number to ring, as Samaritans ashore, to provide a contact for the suicidal. Of course we don't know the circumstances of the lady, but I am sure there are passengers who take a cruise thinking this will solve their problems and find it makes things worse.

 

It would cost the cruise lines nothing and could, hopefully save at least some of the 20 suicides yearly from cruise ships.

 

DAVID.

 

Even if it only went to the Purser who could check the manifest for any clergy or similar onboard.

 

But of course I'm not sure if it's been established what happened with that poor lady.

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chengkp75

chengkp75

Posted
Posted
The reports here about the sad death on a Cunard ship made me wonder if it could be possible to have a number to ring, as Samaritans ashore, to provide a contact for the suicidal. Of course we don't know the circumstances of the lady, but I am sure there are passengers who take a cruise thinking this will solve their problems and find it makes things worse.

 

It would cost the cruise lines nothing and could, hopefully save at least some of the 20 suicides yearly from cruise ships.

 

DAVID.

 

If the flag state of the ship has a good samaritan law, then it would cost the cruise line nothing, but if it doesn't, then the cruise line would be open to litigation for failing to prevent the suicide.

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balf

balf

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I am guessing there would have been a priest or vicar on board as it's the Christmas cruise.

 

I think there is always? a priest aboard and he/she could be the nominated person as long as this was not flagged up.

 

One of the saddest places I have ever been to is Beachy Cove where the memorials of those who died there litter the cliff edge.

 

There are no memorials on cruise ships.

 

DAVID.

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chengkp75

chengkp75

Posted
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I think there is always? a priest aboard and he/she could be the nominated person as long as this was not flagged up.

 

One of the saddest places I have ever been to is Beachy Cove where the memorials of those who died there litter the cliff edge.

 

There are no memorials on cruise ships.

 

DAVID.

 

QM has a priest full time, QE and QV have priests and vicars only on high religious days. Many cruise lines don't have them at all.

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hihilo

hihilo

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If all the services, agencies, therapists, etc etc on LAND don't help the 'victim', & prevent suicides ( and they don't ) ~~~~ its a bit of a stretch to think cruise ships can get into this complicated counselling service and be successful.

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mandranuc

mandranuc

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I don't know much about this except that a friend of mine ( a retired Anglican vicar) does spend occasional time on cruise ships in an official capacity. He has told me that a fair proportion of his work relates to the crew and it seems logical to me that there must be someone on board to offer pastoral care both to the crew and passengers.

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BlueRiband

BlueRiband

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So many people today have absolutely no religious affiliation. It's therefore unlikely a passenger would seek out pastoral consoling despite there being several clergy members on board at Christmas time.

 

We only know that nobody can just fall off a ship - unless alcohol is involved. We will never know what really happened unless there might be some legal action that gets picked up by news services.

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john watson

john watson

Posted
Posted (edited)

The original poster suggested "Samaritans" as a help organisation. My understanding is that this organisation likes to talk to people and get to the root of their troubles and seek a solution but are not a religion based organisation.

 

A number of posters thereafter mentioned a narrow group of religious figures important to specific faiths, however this may be totally inappropriate to many including people of other religions and also athiests and agnostics.

 

Are the majority of the victims travelling solo? in which case there is nobody connected to the victim to talk to. If they are within a group, I suspect they would talk to their travelling companions beforehand. I believe most people who say "I am going to kill myself" are really asking for help and are not committed to this course of action yet or may never go that way if support needed is given.

 

Regards John

 

Regards John

Edited by john watson
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mandranuc

mandranuc

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A number of posters thereafter mentioned a narrow group of religious figures important to specific faiths, however this may be totally inappropriate to many including people of other religions and also athiests and agnostics.

 

 

Regards John

 

My studies of Pastoral Care (although maybe rooted in pastoral theology) are not restricted in its application to a specific faith or religion. I suppose the reason religious persons have been referenced is that they are trained in pastoral care in general.

 

Quote: "Pastoral care is an ancient model of emotional and spiritual support that can be found in all cultures and traditions."

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Salacia

Salacia

Posted
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If all the services, agencies, therapists, etc etc on LAND don't help the 'victim', & prevent suicides ( and they don't ) ~~~~ its a bit of a stretch to think cruise ships can get into this complicated counselling service and be successful.

 

hihilo, please see the following:

 

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2007/09/09/a-study-of-suicide-hotlines/

 

http://www.suicidology.org/resources/sltb

 

Best wishes for the New Year,

Salacia

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