04/30/04

 

   During our cruise we had the opportunity to see exactly what happens when there is a major medical emergency while the ship is away from port.  A passenger with diabetes was having major problems and it was decided that it would be best to have him taken care of stateside.  With that goal in mind (and another day of travel before we reached port) a helicopter was called and the passenger was taken off ship.  The process was simple in theory and remarkable in practice.  First the ship had to be turned and slowed down to facilitate the transfer.  Then a basket was lowered from the helicopter and the doctor was taken to the helicopter to monitor the patient.  The basket was re-lowered, the patient was put into the basket, and then raised to the helicopter.  We were asked to not rush up to the deck to take pictures nor to use flash since it might disturb the helicopter crew.

These pictures were taken from our room window.  I decided not to take pictures of the actual loading of the passenger onto the helicopter out of respect to the person's privacy.

 

Our cruise was unusual since not only did one person get airlifted off the ship, but three others had to brought out to the ship after they missed the boat.  Here is the pilot boat giving the three people a lift back.

And finally, the ship had to actually turn around and go back to port to pick up two other people who were a little slow about getting back to the ship.  In their case, the ship was only a few feet away from the dock when they came running up to the ship and attempted to flag it down.  The ship pulled a little bit closer to the dock, a gangway was extended, and they got back on board.  Departure was delayed for about 10 minutes and the two individuals got a rousing greeting from everyone who was on the ship and watching their antics.  I did not get a chance to catch them getting on board but I did run them down later.  (I promised them they would be internet stars.....)

 

 

This site was last updated 11/02/03