Quantum--helicopter medical evac this afternoon

[rockmom]

My daughter is on this sailing and sent me a screen clip of a video posted from someone in her roll call group.  No word on what happened, they were north of Vancouver Island heading toward Victoria, which is their port tomorrow.  There sure seems to be an awful lot medical emergencies lately, or maybe we are more aware of them due to social media?  Someone else on her roll call posted that they have a forward ocean view room and  watched the helicopter hover over the bow and bring the person up.  Sure hope they are ok.  Rough and sad start for Quantum's first voyage of the Alaska season.  😞 

 

Edited May 8, 2022 by rockmom

[ReneeFLL]

Also hope they are ok.

[smokeybandit]

Maybe rules are different in Canadian waters, but you'd have to be near death to get a medivac by the coast guard.

 

That aside, I think you're seeing more medical diversions lately because thanks to the CDC the cruise lines are paranoid about keeping open beds for covid treatment (even though they're almost never used)

[Lane Hog]

We had someone experience a medical emergency on our cruise, and the bridge put the ship into full speed to get us to the closest port, which got the man to hospital some 30 hours after the announcement was made. 

 

First option will be to keep the person stabilized in the medical suite until they get to the next port.  If another suitable port is available and it won't impact the schedule, diverting is very expensive in terms of fuel, but can be done in cases where necessary.

 

Helivac is a last resort or life threatening injury.  They can't land on the deck. It has to be a basket rescue. Very, very dangerous for all involved.

 

And no, I don't think diversion decisions are being driven by Covid. It's a matter of balancing out the patient's condition vs. liability and costs.  

Edited May 8, 2022 by Lane Hog

[the_thunderbird]

2 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Maybe rules are different in Canadian waters, but you'd have to be near death to get a medivac by the coast guard.

 

That aside, I think you're seeing more medical diversions lately because thanks to the CDC the cruise lines are paranoid about keeping open beds for covid treatment (even though they're almost never used)

Admittedly I have no idea what the rules are anywhere else, but as a former Duty Officer for the Canadian Armed Forces Maritime Forces Pacific Command, who "dispatch" the birds in the photo from the first post - you gotta be in a real hurt locker to get picked up like that. 

[gumshoe958]

We had one last week on the Wonder TA, somewhere off the Azores. Earlier in the day an appeal went out over the PA system for potential blood donors.

[Biker19]

11 hours ago, rockmom said:

There sure seems to be an awful lot medical emergencies lately, or maybe we are more aware of them due to social media?

Probably the latter and maybe RCI ship docs being overly cautious and wanting the "problem" off the ship in the COVID era.

Edited May 8, 2022 by Biker19

[RFerrington]

14 hours ago, rockmom said:

There sure seems to be an awful lot medical emergencies lately

Very astute observation.  Now....what could possibly be causing all of them ?   

[shipgeeks]

We've seen the occasional helicopter rescue for the 30+ years we've been cruising.  Rather than thinking they're becoming more frequent, I suggest it's just that there are more of us now on CC, and people are more likely to post pictures and news of everything that happens.

[chengkp75]

16 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Maybe rules are different in Canadian waters, but you'd have to be near death to get a medivac by the coast guard.

Well, I would think the CCG would operate similarly to the USCG.  The ship's Doctor first weighs in on the condition of the patient, and whether the patient can be maintained in a stable condition onboard, the ship's Captain weighs in on his view on the safety of the vessel during a helicopter evac, the helicopter flight crew weigh in on whether they feel the risk to the aircraft and aircrew is warranted, and finally, the final and deciding vote is the USCG flight surgeon, who will determine if the risk to the patient not only during winching, but during the flight with limited medical care, outweighs the risk of keeping the passenger in a stable, stocked medical facility for a longer period of time.  In fact, if the patient is truly in a life threatening condition, a helicopter evac would likely be disallowed.

 

16 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

That aside, I think you're seeing more medical diversions lately because thanks to the CDC the cruise lines are paranoid about keeping open beds for covid treatment (even though they're almost never used)

The patient needing evacuation would be in the medical center rooms, not the quarantine rooms, and with the lessening of chances of severe symptoms from Covid, since virtually everyone is vaccinated, the medical center rooms would not be used for covid.  Secondly, it is not the cruise line's call as to whether an evacuation happens, but the national agency responding to SAR.

[kochleffel]

I witnessed a helicopter evacuation on the Nieuw Amsterdam in January 2020. The ship changed course to rendezvous with a USCG helicopter coming from the Bahamas, where there is a small base, which took the patient to Grand Turk. I was initially surprised by that, because Grand Turk has only a 10-bed hospital and the hospital at Providenciales is only 20 beds, but the purpose was to transfer the patient by fixed-wing aircraft to Miami.