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Medical emergency evacuation on Bellissima


Stockjock
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Yesterday we had an emergency medical evacuation via helicopter on Bellissima.  I am not sure what happened, but what looked to be a military helicopter, presumably Italian, picked up at least one passenger by winch and basket. Hopefully that person is OK.

BA3972B0-C04D-4D8E-9A65-AC01D8A1A80F.jpeg

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@Stockjock

thank you for your post and the link to the video. The emergency evacuation gives me confidence cruising with MSC. The onboard medical team evaluated the situation, declared a medical emergency and decided to airlift the patient to a hospital for treatment.

We had the chance to get a small tour of the medical facilities on MSC Seaview last year. The facilities are very good equipped with multiple exam rooms, room for small surgeries, X-Ray equipment and laboratory. They can diagnose and treat a variety of non-life-threatening conditions.

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5 hours ago, emmas gran said:

Sorry but I see no need to post this -- someone is very ill end of story

In that case, I think that you should personally refrain from posting stories about people who become ill on the ship, or those who are airlifted off of the ship.

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36 minutes ago, SirWolf said:

@Stockjock

thank you for your post and the link to the video. The emergency evacuation gives me confidence cruising with MSC. The onboard medical team evaluated the situation, declared a medical emergency and decided to airlift the patient to a hospital for treatment.

We had the chance to get a small tour of the medical facilities on MSC Seaview last year. The facilities are very good equipped with multiple exam rooms, room for small surgeries, X-Ray equipment and laboratory. They can diagnose and treat a variety of non-life-threatening conditions.

 You are more than welcome. From what I can see, they handled the situation extremely well. They got her off of the ship quickly, they did not delay the cruise or inconvenience other passengers, they had a fire crew standing by on deck in case something went wrong with the helicopter, it was all very professional. I also appreciated the captain’s communications in letting us all know what was occurring and reassuring everyone that the operation would not cause a delay with respect to schedule or itinerary. 

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37 minutes ago, Stockjock said:

In that case, I think that you should personally refrain from posting stories about people who become ill on the ship, or those who are airlifted off of the ship.

 

I am not getting into a slanging match , nor posted about this

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  • 2 weeks later...

We watched the whole thing from the lounge in the YC. They lowered two men down onto the ship and shortly later airlifted the women on a stretcher. They next raised a man, husband or family member most likely, up into the helicopter. We definitely felt so bad for them and could only imagine what they were going thru. The man hit his head twice as they were trying to get him into the helicopter. We said our prayers for the couple and if that happened to us I hope someone would pray too. I see no reason to not share the info that happened on our sailing. 

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I happen to agree it isn't necessary to post such activities. Imagine that is you or your family being viewed and 'televised' by strangers.  The chances of those relevant to receive the posted hopes and prayers are pretty much slim to none.  We live in a world where less and less is private and personal privacy is just not respected.  Sure, if you see it and want to personally send good wishes, sure.  But to me it is sort of like the rubber neckers at road or other accidents.  If they can't contribute to the solution, move out of the way.  I know - my opinion won't be appreciated, but just put yourself in their shoes.  Would you really want to be the person reported on or filmed and published - without your permission??

If you want to post that 'an incident happened and you felt the process was handled well - this is what they did' and go into details that are non-personalized, then that is informative to all.

Just my opinion, but hopefully some food for thought.

 

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5 hours ago, mef_57 said:

I happen to agree it isn't necessary to post such activities. Imagine that is you or your family being viewed and 'televised' by strangers.  The chances of those relevant to receive the posted hopes and prayers are pretty much slim to none.  We live in a world where less and less is private and personal privacy is just not respected.  Sure, if you see it and want to personally send good wishes, sure.  But to me it is sort of like the rubber neckers at road or other accidents.  If they can't contribute to the solution, move out of the way.  I know - my opinion won't be appreciated, but just put yourself in their shoes.  Would you really want to be the person reported on or filmed and published - without your permission??

If you want to post that 'an incident happened and you felt the process was handled well - this is what they did' and go into details that are non-personalized, then that is informative to all.

Just my opinion, but hopefully some food for thought.

 

If I was airlifted off of a ship, I would expect the operation to be filmed.  I'd watch it myself after I recovered.

While I respect your right to your opinion, you're correct when you way that it's "not appreciated" because it does come across as preachy and judgmental.  Respectfully, if you don't think these incidents should be recorded, then don't record them or watch the videos.

They are interesting from many perspectives.

1. How are these incidents handled?

2. What is the communication like from the Captain?

3. Is the cruise delayed?

4. How does MSC coordinate such an operation?

5. What happened to the passenger?  Is he/she okay?

6. How did they get injured/ill?  Is this something other can learn from or avoid?

No hard feelings.  You've expressed your views, so I'll do the same.
 

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8 hours ago, Stockjock said:

If I was airlifted off of a ship, I would expect the operation to be filmed.  I'd watch it myself after I recovered.

While I respect your right to your opinion, you're correct when you way that it's "not appreciated" because it does come across as preachy and judgmental.  Respectfully, if you don't think these incidents should be recorded, then don't record them or watch the videos.

They are interesting from many perspectives.

1. How are these incidents handled?

2. What is the communication like from the Captain?

3. Is the cruise delayed?

4. How does MSC coordinate such an operation?

5. What happened to the passenger?  Is he/she okay?

6. How did they get injured/ill?  Is this something other can learn from or avoid?

No hard feelings.  You've expressed your views, so I'll d

I appreciate the well thought out response.

If you had initially addressed most of the points you made, you wouldn't have heard a peep from me.

Safe travels.

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2 hours ago, mef_57 said:

I appreciate the well thought out response.

If you had initially addressed most of the points you made, you wouldn't have heard a peep from me.

Safe travels.

Dang.  the little smiley face didn't take on this and no edit option.  It was supposed to be

"you wouldn't have heard a peep from me.😊'

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I work for one of the big Wall Street firms and one of the benefits we have is a free (reimbursed) American Express Platinum card for clients with $1,000,000 and up who jump through a few low hurdles.  I have this card through my firm.

One of my co-workers also has this card and his wife had a medical emergency in a somewhat remote part of south or central America a few months back.  I think it was a ruptured gall bladder or appendix or similar.

In short, the American Express Platinum card has certain medical coverages if you book the entire trip on the card, and this can include covered medical evacuation.  Fortunately, they helped them to find a nearby qualified hospital, but he told me that Amex was going  airlift him and his wife out of the country at their expense if necessary.

Fortunately, it was not necessary and she has since fully recovered.  

I read a story about a person who used frequent flyer miles to book a trip and put the tax on the American Express Platinum Card (see link).  Apparently, putting that $5.60 on the card saved them something like $270,000 in emergency medical expenses.

For this reason, I try very hard to book all travel on my Amex Platinum.

For the record, I don't work for or have any other affiliation with American Express.  I think the card is normally $550/yr.  Is it worth is?  Yeah, very possibly if you use all of its benefits.  Free is even better.
Amex Platinum Emergency Evac Story

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