balf Posted December 25, 2016 #1 Share Posted December 25, 2016 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanky Lad Posted December 25, 2016 #2 Share Posted December 25, 2016 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUT2407 Posted December 25, 2016 #3 Share Posted December 25, 2016 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chengkp75 Posted December 26, 2016 #4 Share Posted December 26, 2016 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balf Posted December 26, 2016 Author #5 Share Posted December 26, 2016 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chengkp75 Posted December 26, 2016 #6 Share Posted December 26, 2016 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hihilo Posted December 26, 2016 #7 Share Posted December 26, 2016 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balf Posted December 26, 2016 Author #8 Share Posted December 26, 2016 If all the services, agencies, therapists, etc etc on LAND don't help the 'victim', & prevent suicides ( and they don't ) How can you possibly know that? DAVID. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandranuc Posted December 26, 2016 #9 Share Posted December 26, 2016 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BlueRiband Posted December 27, 2016 #10 Share Posted December 27, 2016 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john watson Posted December 27, 2016 #11 Share Posted December 27, 2016 (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 December 27, 2016 by john watson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Host Hattie Posted December 27, 2016 #12 Share Posted December 27, 2016 For those who are not familiar with the organisation balf mentioned here is a link to their website -Samaritans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandranuc Posted December 27, 2016 #13 Share Posted December 27, 2016 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." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olliesmum Posted December 27, 2016 #14 Share Posted December 27, 2016 As it is also Hanukkah, there should be Rabbis on board the ships as well. The doctors on board, as trained GPs, should also be able to deal with a psychiatric crisis with medication. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salacia Posted December 28, 2016 #15 Share Posted December 28, 2016 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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