Another Carnival lawsuit

I saw this article this morning and thought I would share. I looked to see if it had already been posted but could not find anything. Just in case...my apologies if this is a re-post.

http://galvestondailynews.com/story/311978

Thanks for sharing. It's an awful thing to have happened to this woman and her family.

I hope that the reports of how long it took and how unprofessionally she was transported are not true - if that part of the story is accurate, then Carnival employees do need more training on emergency first aid. I would think they could belt her into the wheelchair somehow though - while not ideal, it sounds like a lot better of an idea than a canoe. (?!)

However, I don't think the cruise line is responsible for her intoxication. She was an adult, and it was up to her to be responsible for her own intake. How they handled themselves from the point of injury onward is the crew's responsibility, but not the fact that she was drunk and injured herself in the first place.

Ships are floating bars? Seriously?

I guess after this lawsuit, Carnival will switch to plastic cups in the room.

Thanks for sharing. It's an awful thing to have happened to this woman and her family.

 

I hope that the reports of how long it took and how unprofessionally she was transported are not true - if that part of the story is accurate, then Carnival employees do need more training on emergency first aid. I would think they could belt her into the wheelchair somehow though - while not ideal, it sounds like a lot better of an idea than a canoe. (?!)

 

However, I don't think the cruise line is responsible for her intoxication. She was an adult, and it was up to her to be responsible for her own intake. How they handled themselves from the point of injury onward is the crew's responsibility, but not the fact that she was drunk and injured herself in the first place.

it is a physiological problem getting a person with a substantial loss of blood to sit up. Not enough blood in the system, there fore it will not reach the brain, brain has not blood, it shuts down causing the person to pass out till blood flow is returned. This person needed to be transported in a supine position.

it is a physiological problem getting a person with a substantial loss of blood to sit up. Not enough blood in the system, there fore it will not reach the brain, brain has not blood, it shuts down causing the person to pass out till blood flow is returned. This person needed to be transported in a supine position.

Oh, okay. Thanks for explaining. That makes sense at least. Still, don't they have a regular stretcher that isn't a boat?

Oh, okay. Thanks for explaining. That makes sense at least. Still, don't they have a regular stretcher that isn't a boat?

They should, whether they do or not is another story.

Some one did cover this article yesterday too.

Some one did cover this article yesterday too.

My apologies. I did a search but came up with nothing.

Does seem like the emergency care was awful.

My apologies. I did a search but came up with nothing.

That is because it was most likely deleted because the OP c/p the whole article rather than just a link to it.

Then the cheerleaders came in blaming everything on the family and faulting them,making the family guilty and making Carnival in the clear and doing no wrong.

...

Then the cheerleaders came in blaming everything on the family and faulting them,making the family guilty and making Carnival in the clear and doing no wrong.

I think that's over-simplifying, don't you? There were many valid posts on that thread that simply pointed out that there is more than one side to every story and all we are getting is the family's side (from a lawyer no less).

I don't think anyone can dispute that if the facts are as reported that Carnival did not provide adequate response; however, there is a lot to the story that doesn't seem to add up.

Just because people refuse to believe the story outright, doesn't mean they are reading with pom-poms in hand. Carnival did play some role in this tragedy (to what extent we'll probably never really find out), but so did the deceased and her family.

Lack of personal responsibility and the desire to be compensated for everything and anything that happens is unfortunately a big part of many cases like these, so I do think it's appropriate to consider this story with that in mind.

That is incredibly scarey. I hope Carnival learned from this and are more prepared. Poor lady, I hope she rests in peace.

I wonder if the "canoe" which I have never seen on board, was in fact a stokes basket for water rescue.

It still took way to long to get proper medical attention regardless of how or why she got hurt.

I feel sorry for all involved. I do believe the female passenger who passed should have refused after too many drinks. We are all adults and should carry ourselves as that.

We are responsible for our own consumption. It's not a blame game here. It's pure common sense.

Should she had been at home and made herself one too many margaritas and fell who would she blame then? The liquor store? This is a terrible incident and I hope all involved learned a valuable lesson. Yes ships sell alcohol, but nobody forced this lady to drink. Also a nurse is in no way a dr. The cruise line could only do so much. They are a cruise ship. Not a top of the Line medical facility. I'm not a carnival cheerleader just speaking my opinion. Sorry for the loss. So tragic :(

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If carnival is at fault, then I hope they compensate the family.

(I also think the other thread was deleted for cutting/pasting portions of the article in the thread).

However, when you are on a ship at sea, I don't think you can expect trauma services. Do I think it sounds like the staff could be better trained? Yes, from that point of view of the family, it does sound like there were plenty of missteps.

Even if they had gotten her to the ship's doctor quicker, there is no way to tell if she would have lived though. IT sounds like she needed emergency vascular surgery and does the ship's doctor even have a pair of loupes on hand?

I know that Carnival (as well as the other cruise lines requires their nursing staff to be ACLS and ER or ICU trained. It sounds like they sent some staff members to the room instead of the medical staff.

I have seen the medical staff respond to emergency calls on Glory and also Spirit I believe, they were professional and appropriate.

I wonder why they sent laymen instead of staff to the emergency call???

Another thing that bothers me a LOT, why didn't someone, family, staff, freaking next door neighbors with common sense hold PRESSURE on this wound. I know that arteries will bleed someone out quickly, just as I know pressure on a wound can buy time, and a tournequet on the arm might have been appropriate.

It sounded like a big clusterfuss and no one really did the right thing.

Very, very sad for the passenger that died and her family.

Carole

Can Carnival medical personnel provide emergency surgery services? (really just curious about that)

Can Carnival medical personnel provide emergency surgery services? (really just curious about that)

Probably not, but a good ER doc would have been able to sew it some to slow it down enough. A tourniquet would have been a great choice to use. A tourniquet can stay on as long as 8 plus ours with out causing too much harm to the limb. They can stay on even longer but most likely a loss of limb, better a loss of limb than a loss of life.

I dread being pulled into something like this on my cruises. I am cruising to get away from doing this.

Can someone with some legal expertise chime in? Part of me says she's at fault but another part of me says that Carnival is at fault and that she might still be alive had she received proper care.

One thing that always bothers me about lawsuits is that they try to paint the victim more innocent than they truly are, and as a person who could do no wrong (on this one, they say that the victim wasn't a heavy drinker), yet, when the toxicology test came back, they found this: "A toxicology report obtained by The Daily News on Wednesday listed her blood-alcohol level at .155 percent. Holcomb’s blood also tested positive for marijuana, the report states".

It truly kills the credibility of the plaintiff...:(

Seriously, though. Any passenger would require a new cruise after having to perform emergency services as a good samaritan.

I wonder if the "canoe" which I have never seen on board, was in fact a stokes basket for water rescue.

 

It still took way to long to get proper medical attention regardless of how or why she got hurt.

This is what I was thinking too, the cruise ship would have no need to have an actual canoe on board for water emergencies. Canoes in the open sea don't work. Im sure it was a rescue basket equipped with straps or webbing of some kind. If Carnival neglected to send medical personnel to the scene knowing there was a medical emergency then failing to properly transport then yes they would be at fault. However they may have just calles and stated they needed help ans hung up or did not specifiy or cooperate so they may have sent regular staff to see what was going on. In my profession we have people call and demand help then hang up daily. The only reason i can think of them carrying her down the stairs is to prevent any further potential c-spine, but life over limb always takes precedent. But having a BAC of almost two times the legal limit and narcotics in her system certainly should be considered a contributing factor. Just because she was being offered free drinks did not mean she had to accept them. That is a choice that only she can be held liable for.

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Can someone with some legal expertise chime in? Part of me says she's at fault but another part of me says that Carnival is at fault and that she might still be alive had she received proper care.

 

One thing that always bothers me about lawsuits is that they try to paint the victim as an innocent person who could do no wrong (on this one, they say that the victim wasn't a heavy drinker), yet, when the toxicology test came back, they found this: "A toxicology report obtained by The Daily News on Wednesday listed her blood-alcohol level at .155 percent. Holcomb’s blood also tested positive for marijuana, the report states".

 

It truly kills the credibility of the plaintiff...:(

I only know from my cousin's husband who sued a company years ago that involved alcohol (them) and liability (trucking company).

The jury awarded a judgement, which was then divided by what percentage of fault each person had. Cousin-in-law was still awarded money, but it had been substantially reduced since he carried a large portion of fault (drinking, not driving). Cousin-in-law was awarded more money than the estate of the drunk driver cousin in law was with, since the driver was at more fault than the passenger. (the friend driving died at the scene).

In terms of malpractice, a large component is "standard of care"-- whether or not standard of care was followed, and if they can prove the outcome would have been different.

I am not a lawyer, but I also can't tell exactly under what grounds they are suing.

I think the "outcome" will come into play as it seems this lady's BEST chance was a tourniquet plus an airlift to a land based hospital for surgery. Maybe throw in a patch job stitching, though Im doubtful that would have had any meaningful change in outcome.

Arm vascular injuries are tricky and require major surgery. Ships aren't set up for surgery and trauma (and staff probably aren't ATLS trained-- she also had a heart attack, though cause of death was bleed out)

Can someone with some legal expertise chime in? Part of me says she's at fault but another part of me says that Carnival is at fault and that she might still be alive had she received proper care.

 

One thing that always bothers me about lawsuits is that they try to paint the victim more innocent than they truly are, and as a person who could do no wrong (on this one, they say that the victim wasn't a heavy drinker), yet, when the toxicology test came back, they found this: "A toxicology report obtained by The Daily News on Wednesday listed her blood-alcohol level at .155 percent. Holcomb’s blood also tested positive for marijuana, the report states".

 

It truly kills the credibility of the plaintiff...:(

I am the first agree that personal responsibility had a role to play in this tragedy. But was this blood taken before she died or after she died and how long after she died. I am dusting off cobwebs here but I remember some where in my training and education years back that once the cells starting dying they give off an acid that can skew the blood alcohol test results. ut that was close to 20 something years ago, the probably have better testing equipment now days.

But regardless of her blood alcohol and THC content, if Carnival did render the proper aid in a timely manner they can still be held liable.

I only know from my cousin's husband who sued a company years ago that involved alcohol (them) and liability (trucking company).

 

The jury awarded a judgement, which was then divided by what percentage of fault each person had. Cousin-in-law was still awarded money, but it had been substantially reduced since he carried a large portion of fault (drinking, not driving). Cousin-in-law was awarded more money than the estate of the drunk driver cousin in law was with, since the driver was at more fault than the passenger. (the friend driving died at the scene).

 

In terms of malpractice, a large component is "standard of care"-- whether or not standard of care was followed, and if they can prove the outcome would have been different.

 

I am not a lawyer, but I also can't tell exactly under what grounds they are suing.

 

I think the "outcome" will come into play as it seems this lady's BEST chance was a tourniquet plus an airlift to a land based hospital for surgery. Maybe throw in a patch job stitching, though Im doubtful that would have had any meaningful change in outcome.

 

Arm vascular injuries are tricky and require major surgery. Ships aren't set up for surgery and trauma (and staff probably aren't ATLS trained-- she also had a heart attack, though cause of death was bleed out)

She did not have a heart attack, she suffered a cardiac arrest due to blood loss. Heart is a pump, no fluid to pump and the pump basically burns out and quits.

Yeah, it was an inevitable result. (I am not a doctor. I maybe know enough to be a really really bad PA lol)