Snorkel Incident on Liberty's Last Sailing

[Nolsie]

Hey everyone,

 

I am just back from the 10th of January sailing on the Liberty, for which I will post a review shortly. However, I was wondering if anyone had heard the outcome of an incident that happened whilst undertaking one of the Carnival Excursions - The Champagne and Snorkel Catamaran to St John ?

 

Basically what happened was that the captain of the catamaran had determined the weather too windy to go to St John, so we went to another smaller island off St Thomas, to a place called Christmas Cove. On our trip were an elderly couple, who opted to be dropped off at the shore by dinghy, so they could snorkel in the shallower water by the beach. Whilst climbing out of the dinghy the elderly lady slipped and fell out. This in itself was unfortunate, but she seemed OK, and the dinghy skipper was in no way at fault.

 

However, merely 30 minutes later, my girlfriend and I were snorkelling maybe 20 metres away from where they had been, and we just hear a lot of splashing and shouts for help as one of our fellow passengers had realised that she wasn't moving in the water. Luckily, he reacted really quickly and managed to pull her out of the water, but she had stopped breathing, she was literally dead. Again, very fortunately, we had a nurse and a fireman along with us, and the nurse administered CPR. At the same time, the guys running our catamaran were already on scene with first aid and oxygen, and after what seemed like an eternity, the lady started to breath again. She was then taken away to hospital in one of the small fastcraft.

 

So whilst it seemed that she had been resuscitated thanks to the efforts of those who assisted, I would very much like to know if anyone is aware if the lady was OK after going to hospital.

 

I would also like to express thanks to those who helped the poor woman - my fellow passengers, and the excellent crew of the catamaran, as they undoubtedly saved her life.

 

Thanks

 

 

Paul

[Wennfred]

Great story Paul, so glad the lady came back.

 

Off topic, concerning the Good Samaritan Law:

 

By the way the Good Samaritan Statutes took a hit last month when a co-worker sued and won a case. Read about it here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/24/AR2008122402059.html?wprss=rss_nation

 

Don't get into an wreck here in California, youre on your own.

 

 

Fred

[Nolsie]

Wow, that is pretty unbelievable. I think I heard the nurse say that she may have cracked a couple of the ladies ribs whilst doing the chest compressions, but in doing so, absolutely saved her life. Will it get to the stage now, where you have to worry about helping someone in trouble in case you get taken to court ? Ridiculous !!!

[momofzeke]

Wow, that is pretty unbelievable. I think I heard the nurse say that she may have cracked a couple of the ladies ribs whilst doing the chest compressions, but in doing so, absolutely saved her life. Will it get to the stage now, where you have to worry about helping someone in trouble in case you get taken to court ? Ridiculous !!!

 

Unfortunately, yes. You know the old saying.......no good deed goes unpunished.

 

Hope the lady was ok.

[yearnin4cruisin]

Wow, that is pretty unbelievable. I think I heard the nurse say that she may have cracked a couple of the ladies ribs whilst doing the chest compressions, but in doing so, absolutely saved her life. Will it get to the stage now, where you have to worry about helping someone in trouble in case you get taken to court ? Ridiculous !!!

 

It is not at all uncommon to break ribs while performing CPR; quite common with elderly victims, no matter how well your hands are placed. The Good Sam law protects her in any case.

 

And for those who are hesitant to perform CPR because they "don't want to make things worse", it CAN'T get worse! The person is dead. If you do nothing, they will stay dead. You can only improve the situation, so please jump in there.

[NeurosurgeryNP]

Wow, that is pretty unbelievable. I think I heard the nurse say that she may have cracked a couple of the ladies ribs whilst doing the chest compressions, but in doing so, absolutely saved her life. Will it get to the stage now, where you have to worry about helping someone in trouble in case you get taken to court ? Ridiculous !!!

In doing proper CPR, you will ALWAYS crack or fracture ribs. It is inevitable.

[NeurosurgeryNP]

Great story Paul, so glad the lady came back.

 

Off topic, concerning the Good Samaritan Law:

 

By the way the Good Samaritan Statutes took a hit last month when a co-worker sued and won a case. Read about it here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/24/AR2008122402059.html?wprss=rss_nation

 

Don't get into an wreck here in California, youre on your own.

 

 

Fred

This case was a little different. Did the rescuer perceive that the car was going on fire - yes. Was the car on fire - no - the bystanders say there was no smoke or fire as the rescuer said. As a non-medical person, she did was SHE though was correct. If there is no threat in the car - i.e. it wasn't on fire, then she defintiely didn't do the right thing and she probably didn't know it. Te real issue is that was the victim paralyzed BEFORE she puller her out as as result of the accident or as a result of the rescuer pulling her out of the car - we will never know. The victim sure isn't going to spill the beans. Yes, it will defer people from helping in these situations, by as a PP said, if someone is dead, they are dead - CPR can only help.

 

Sad.

[ladycaveat]

I just returned from the January 10th Liberty sailing and I didn't hear anything about this. I do the lady is doing okay . . . .

[Kurbanfan]

This case was a little different. Did the rescuer perceive that the car was going on fire - yes. Was the car on fire - no - the bystanders say there was no smoke or fire as the rescuer said. As a non-medical person, she did was SHE though was correct. If there is no threat in the car - i.e. it wasn't on fire, then she defintiely didn't do the right thing and she probably didn't know it. Te real issue is that was the victim paralyzed BEFORE she puller her out as as result of the accident or as a result of the rescuer pulling her out of the car - we will never know. The victim sure isn't going to spill the beans. Yes, it will defer people from helping in these situations, by as a PP said, if someone is dead, they are dead - CPR can only help.

 

Sad.

 

It also stated they were all out drinking til the morning hours.........which will obviously be a key factor in this lawsuit;)

Like yearnin4cruisin said please don't be afraid to bring someone back from the brink of death.....

[5waldos]

Sounds like there might have been a further reason why the woman fell in the first place. Hope she is ok.

[jakieemma]

crunch, crack, bang, boom....it's all part of doing good compressions on the elderly !!!;)

[vacruizer]

Prayers go out to this lady and her family - hopefully she is ok.

 

We have taken the St. John Champagne Catamaran through Carnival twice now and part of the reason we went back was the top-notch crew onboard. I had no doubt they knew exactly what to do in a crisis and this shows it. :)

 

Our story was nothing near as bad, but on our first trip with them my neck case with all my id, credit cards, cash, s&s cards, etc. opened up somehow while snorkeling - I lost everything. :( I was in a panic -just the idea of having to find a way to call the bank, get back into the port area with no id, get driver's licenses replaced, etc. was not a fun thought! The co-captain Johnny went out an swam for over 30 minutes looking for my stuff - just about the time he was going to have to give up it was spotted and he went and dove down to the reef and got everything back except the cash which had floated away. :D He and the rest of the crew were so nice, so kind, and could have said "tough luck" to me but really saved the day. Even though they knew we no longer had any cash to tip them - the crew was very reassuring and very humble about my extreme thanks - it was all in a days' work for them. We went back again a few weeks ago and did the same tour and our captain ended up being Johnny again - he even remembered us. :o I keep thinking we should do something different in St. Thomas but this excursion has been so great twice now that we may have to keep doing it!

 

Kudos to all who helped this lady and saved a life - both passengers and crew.