Medical facilities on a cruise ship...how extensive should they be?

[navybankerteacher]

Capt BJ gave a common sense response to the uninformed glib suggestions concerning quick and easy air evacuations.

 

Does anyone really think that a Coast Guard helicopter is always standing by - sort of like air UBER?  Or that air is always better than surface?

[Gwendy]

I have been on a number of ships where medical evacuations were necessary.  None of them were quick or easy but required great skill from air crews and shipboard crew.  On ships without a helipad areas of the deck have to be cordoned off, cannot believe some passengers complained about this!

on Diamond Princess a crew member was very ill and the Singapore Air Force had to come out in the middle of the night.  All cabins within the vicinity of the helipad had to be sent to a lounge for duration of transfer, neither easy or quick.  Good news the next day crew member underwent surgery and was recovering well.

[Hlitner]

Just to set the record straight, you cannot land a helicopter on the Zuiderdam!  We know this because we were on its sister ship (Oosterdam) when the US Navy Seals (its a long story) performed an air/sea rescue off the Pacific Coast.  The Seal chopper dropped a paramedic onto our deck (to prepare the patient for rescue) and later accompanied him when we was airlifted off the bow.  I should add that this was done under perfect weather conditions during daylight.

 

And if anyone would ask why was this done by the Seals rather then the USCG...it was because we were out of range of the USCG helicopters.  The SEAL chopper did it by using mid-air refueling from a KC-130.  It was quite an operation which made the newspapers in San Diego.

 

Hank

[lenquixote66]

Several years ago a neighbor and her husband were on a Caribbean cruise.One day her husband began having chest pains.He was taken to the infirmary and the doctor said he was having a heart attack and needed to be in a hospital.He was taken by helicopter to the closest island . His wife stayed on board.Her husband called her from the hospital stating they would not treat him unless they received ten thousand US dollars. His wife had the funds transferred .After he was treated and well enough to travel his family came to the island to take him  home. Unbelievable but true.

 

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[mom says]

1 hour ago, lenquixote66 said:

Several years ago a neighbor and her husband were on a Caribbean cruise.One day her husband began having chest pains.He was taken to the infirmary and the doctor said he was having a heart attack and needed to be in a hospital.He was taken by helicopter to the closest island . His wife stayed on board.Her husband called her from the hospital stating they would not treat him unless they received ten thousand US dollars. His wife had the funds transferred .After he was treated and well enough to travel his family came to the island to take him  home. Unbelievable but true.

 

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What part of the story do you find unbelievable?

[Philob]

My uncle passed away on a land tour in China.  The hospital would not release him to the mortuary until his bill was paid if full.  No credit card, no wire transfer, no insurance accepted.  Cash only.  Aunt did have enough cash and was too upset to think,  cousin was freaking out trying to get his passport renewed, getting a visa, plane tickets and the cash.  

 

After a day or two the hospital finally relented and accepted a wire transfer.   The mortuary tried to pulled the same act when auntie went to transfer him to the airline.

[GeezerCouple]

Approx how much was needed?

And how does one get a *large* sum of CASH when overseas, if even wire transfers aren't allowed?

Does one have to open an account, get money wired in, and then withdraw cash?  That doesn't sound like a quick process at all.

 

And some insurers will help out with this, but the next-best they could do is a guarantee; the best would be a wire.  They can't instantaneously  have a pile of cash hand delivered the hospital/etc.?

 

I guess I get it about a charge card, given there are ways to try to get those transactions reversed, so hospitals may have had bad experiences...?

We had sort of assumed that our "high charge card limits" would be useful in such a case.

 

???

 

GC

[CPT Trips]

20 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

Capt BJ gave a common sense response to the uninformed glib suggestions concerning quick and easy air evacuations.

 

Does anyone really think that a Coast Guard helicopter is always standing by - sort of like air UBER?  Or that air is always better than surface?

 

Isnt "air UBER" really LYFT?

[Hlitner]

2 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

Several years ago a neighbor and her husband were on a Caribbean cruise.One day her husband began having chest pains.He was taken to the infirmary and the doctor said he was having a heart attack and needed to be in a hospital.He was taken by helicopter to the closest island . His wife stayed on board.Her husband called her from the hospital stating they would not treat him unless they received ten thousand US dollars. His wife had the funds transferred .After he was treated and well enough to travel his family came to the island to take him  home. Unbelievable but true.

 

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Sounds about right.

 

Hank

[Hlitner]

8 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

Approx how much was needed?

And how does one get a *large* sum of CASH when overseas, if even wire transfers aren't allowed?

Does one have to open an account, get money wired in, and then withdraw cash?  That doesn't sound like a quick process at all.

 

And some insurers will help out with this, but the next-best they could do is a guarantee; the best would be a wire.  They can't instantaneously  have a pile of cash hand delivered the hospital/etc.?

 

I guess I get it about a charge card, given there are ways to try to get those transactions reversed, so hospitals may have had bad experiences...?

We had sort of assumed that our "high charge card limits" would be useful in such a case.

 

???

 

GC

You must understand that outside the USA, hospitals have different rules.  In some countries you are not going to be admitted or treated in a hospital unless you can demonstrate your ability to pay.  In Mexico, where we live part of the year, the norm is to ask for a credit card (which is held until it is verified) upon admission.  If you do not have a sufficient credit limit on that card you might not be admitted.  In many countries the best hospitals are "private" facilities and if you do not have the money or credit they will transfer you to a public facility (which could be a long distance from your location.  Most travel insurance policies do not directly pay hospitals and most foreign hospitals do not "accept assignment" from an insurer.  GeoBlue is one exception when it comes to hospitals (and physicians) who have agreements with that insurer.

 

When DW was treated (last year) in a major Osaka, Japan hospital (she had outpatient surgery, CT Scan, and more) we could not leave the hospital until we paid the bill.  They literally wheeled her (I could walk) into the large accounting department.  Fortunately, we have credit cards with a decent limit so it was no problem.  Otherwise, I would probably still be in that hospital (a year later) scrubbing floors :).

 

Hank

[GeezerCouple]

14 minutes ago, CPT Trips said:

 

Isnt "air UBER" really LYFT?

 

 

GC

[jlp20]

From the hundreds of articles and thousands of posts I've read, sick and injured pax are removed from the ship ASAP. It appears the industry goes out of it's way to reduce any exposure to law suit. I suggest that the moment the evacuation decision was made, any possible mode of transportation were compared. What ever mode got the pax off the ship the fastest was chosen. 

[Philob]

9 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

Approx how much was needed?

And how does one get a *large* sum of CASH when overseas, if even wire transfers aren't allowed?

Does one have to open an account, get money wired in, and then withdraw cash?  That doesn't sound like a quick process at all.

 

And some insurers will help out with this, but the next-best they could do is a guarantee; the best would be a wire.  They can't instantaneously  have a pile of cash hand delivered the hospital/etc.?

 

I guess I get it about a charge card, given there are ways to try to get those transactions reversed, so hospitals may have had bad experiences...?

We had sort of assumed that our "high charge card limits" would be useful in such a case.

 

???

 

GC

What happened with my aunt and uncle happened 15+ years ago when ATMs were less common.  So hopefully now even in a back country city that has at least one bank it should have an ATM.
 

Having high limit cards could possibly allow you to get an expensive cash advance and under those circumstances its not expensive.  

 

When I buy travel insurance now I look to see if the insurer has a list of medical facilities that have some "correspondence" between the two.  I print out a hard copy and make sure its with our "papers".   Hopefully I will never find out if this works, but it's something.

 

Edited April 14, 2019 by Philob

[Essiesmom]

The trouble with using an ATM is that most banks have a daily limit as to what you can take out of your checking account on the debit card.  There might also be a limit on the cash advance on the credit cards, also.  I have several cards with credit limits that would cover the bill (why the heck they think I would want a credit limit that high, I don't know.  And they keep offering to raise it...), if they take credit cards.  i suppose one could carry those cash advance checks they keep sending, but I usually shred them as soon as they arrive...EM

[SRF]

On 4/13/2019 at 5:09 PM, jlp20 said:

From the hundreds of articles and thousands of posts I've read, sick and injured pax are removed from the ship ASAP. It appears the industry goes out of it's way to reduce any exposure to law suit. I suggest that the moment the evacuation decision was made, any possible mode of transportation were compared. What ever mode got the pax off the ship the fastest was chosen. 

 

No, whatever mode SAFELY gets them off the ship the fastest.

[jlp20]

10 hours ago, SRF said:

 

No, whatever mode SAFELY gets them off the ship the fastest.

That wording is what the cruise line PR guy would say. I am going by detailed postings by 8-10 pax posting to these boards.  My favorite is still the guy going to medical prior to docking at Mexican port. Pax told nothing, after docking, security enters their cabin and informs they have 20 minutes to pack and get off ship. They didn't move fast enough so security did the packing. The suspected heart patient was WALKED off the ship with wife and luggage and deposited at the dock. BTW after 24 hours stay at hospital pax release with clean bill of health. 

[SRF]

My point was that they would not use a method of getting them off the ship if it would likely cause more harm than leaving them on board.

 

In the case you mentioned, what would the news article have read if they allowed the passenger to sail, and the person had a heart attack and died because they did not have the capability of treatment?  With the indications from the previous visit.

 

And my experience with getting off the ship with someone with a medical emergency, if there are traveling companions, it is up to THEM to pack and get off or not get off.