Crew Do Not Help Passengers In Medical Mishap

On another thread, as an example of the poor service that he received onboard, a poster mentioned that he had experienced a medical mishap in which crew members did not come to his aid. The crew members merely stood there and watched and did not offer any help.

Another poster responded that they had experienced a similar incident. While on a cruise, a passenger lost consciousness and fell to the floor. The poster stated that when he/she yelled for the crew for help and to call 911, the crew member responded that they could not call 911 and that the proper procedure was to call their supervisor first.

I was always under the assumption (and obviously it may have been misguided), that all crew are trained on basic first aid and that the crew would come to the aid of passengers in distress. This appears to be completely incorrect, as apparently, crew members cannot touch a passenger in medical distress and instead call a supervisor to seek further instructions.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

The crew should call for the medical center which they do on cruises we have sailed on.

Keith

I have seen people fall down on HAL ships and have watched the crew go to their aid as well as seeing a crew member call 911.

And nurses and a doctor rushed to the scene.

Sadly...this is a liability issue.

In a previous life I had fairly extensive first aid training as I worked with youth and trained leaders. I live in Texas and there is a Good Samaritan Law that helps but in the two injury instances where I used my training I always said "I have SOME first aid training, can I try to help?" In both cases the response was yes. In the case where I used CPR the person was obviously non-responsive (and in Texas the law states there is a presumptive affirmative response).

Not sure what the law states at sea.

For the record...if CPR is needed I am going to try. If I break a rib while saving your life and you want to sue me, feel free. I think it is worth the liability risk. And if I am ever in need of CPR, you have my permission to try to save me.

I would not expect all bar waiters, room stewards or laundry workers "...to be trained on basic first aid..." - certainly to the point where I would expect them to rush to intervene. Given the nature of our litigious society, it is understandable that crew members would have been instructed to immediately notify their supervisors - who are more reasonably to be expected to know what to do.

I have not seen a crew member refuse to call emergency help, but have seen (not heard) some "not my department" responses.

I've seen any number of cases where crew placed emergency calls for medical assistance needed by a guest (or crew person).

I saw an elderly lady sink to the floor. The crew immediately helped her to a chair and called the doctor.

Sounds very unusual as we have been on a number of cruises where there was a medical emergency and the crew immediately responded to assist until the medical staff could arrive. They were the ones who called for medical help. And then they remained to keep passengers out of the area and clear a way if the passenger needed to be taken to the medical center. This report seems suspect to me based on our experience.

On Carnival Magic, a lady fainted and the crew instantly came to help. They cleared the area, made sure she was breathing, called for medical assistance and comforted her when she came to until the help arrived. Great Crew!!!

I took a serious fall on the radiance.....I needed professional help to be moved to the medical unit....within a few minutes there were crew and a stretcher ,calm,careful and safe....could not have higher praise.....once in the medical unit was a totally different story with a big bill attached.....the circus came to town....thank heavens nothing was broken but I could not find that out until I was back home....but the initial response could not be faulted..

Sadly...this is a liability issue.

 

In a previous life I had fairly extensive first aid training as I worked with youth and trained leaders. I live in Texas and there is a Good Samaritan Law that helps but in the two injury instances where I used my training I always said "I have SOME first aid training, can I try to help?" In both cases the response was yes. In the case where I used CPR the person was obviously non-responsive (and in Texas the law states there is a presumptive affirmative response).

 

Not sure what the law states at sea.

 

For the record...if CPR is needed I am going to try. If I break a rib while saving your life and you want to sue me, feel free. I think it is worth the liability risk. And if I am ever in need of CPR, you have my permission to try to save me.

Funny you say that CPR properly administered almost always leads to a broken rib or two.

 

I was always under the assumption (and obviously it may have been misguided), that all crew are trained on basic first aid and that the crew would come to the aid of passengers in distress. ?

Why would you assume such a thing? How many people you know are first aid qualified or trained to deal with a medical emergency situation?

On another thread, as an example of the poor service that he received onboard, a poster mentioned that he had experienced a medical mishap in which crew members did not come to his aid. The crew members merely stood there and watched and did not offer any help.

 

Another poster responded that they had experienced a similar incident. While on a cruise, a passenger lost consciousness and fell to the floor. The poster stated that when he/she yelled for the crew for help and to call 911, the crew member responded that they could not call 911 and that the proper procedure was to call their supervisor first.

 

I was always under the assumption (and obviously it may have been misguided), that all crew are trained on basic first aid and that the crew would come to the aid of passengers in distress. This appears to be completely incorrect, as apparently, crew members cannot touch a passenger in medical distress and instead call a supervisor to seek further instructions.

 

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Sounds like an outlier and not something to be worried about.

Funny you say that CPR properly administered almost always leads to a broken rib or two.

Not to start a p-----g match but where does he/she say this? I see it nowhere in the post. the statement was...

If I break a rib while saving your life and you want to sue me, feel free

"If" being the qualifier, does not mean it happens "almost always", just that it can happen and occasionally does. We too were told this when I received CPR training.

Even cardiologists break ribs sometimes.

Not to start a p-----g match but where does he/she say this? I see it nowhere in the post. the statement was...

"If" being the qualifier, does not mean it happens "almost always", just that it can happen and occasionally does. We too were told this when I received CPR training.

I think it is probably a grammatical issue and should have read "Funny you say that, CPR almost always leads ....."

I read it (in my mind) with the comma inserted to denote the break.

Or perhaps a period is needed. I am not going to split hairs over that, but I do think there was a pause involved.

"Funny you say that (insert appropriate grammatical pause) CPR....."

Why would you assume such a thing? How many people you know are first aid qualified or trained to deal with a medical emergency situation?

Lots of employers have successful completion of first aid training as a condition of employment.

Sounds like an outlier and not something to be worried about.

I am thinking the same thing.

For the record...if CPR is needed I am going to try.

Thank you! You're very welcome to break a rib or two if that might keep me or someone else from dying. From a Dutch perspective it's a bit weird that people need to think twice before helping someone. We don't have a Good Samaritan law but we don't need it either. Sueing someone who tried to save you is IMHO ridiculous and I'm sure a case like that would be closed before the trial started.

Not to start a p-----g match but where does he/she say this? I see it nowhere in the post. the statement was...

"If" being the qualifier, does not mean it happens "almost always", just that it can happen and occasionally does. We too were told this when I received CPR training.

He said IF I break a rib, I pointed out hat if CPR is done correctly he is almost certain to break a rib, that's all I wasn't putting words into his mouth I was simply pointing out that his IF was near a sure thing.

I think it is probably a grammatical issue and should have read "Funny you say that, CPR almost always leads ....."

 

I read it (in my mind) with the comma inserted to denote the break.

 

Or perhaps a period is needed. I am not going to split hairs over that, but I do think there was a pause involved.

"Funny you say that (insert appropriate grammatical pause) CPR....."

Exactly, except when using a phone sometimes punctuation drops out and on a small screen you don't notice.

Thank you! You're very welcome to break a rib or two if that might keep me or someone else from dying. From a Dutch perspective it's a bit weird that people need to think twice before helping someone. We don't have a Good Samaritan law but we don't need it either. Sueing someone who tried to save you is IMHO ridiculous and I'm sure a case like that would be closed before the trial started.

Here in the US you can be sued for anything, anytime and anywhere. Just watch Judge Judy! We have lawyers on tv telling you to call if you "think" you have a case against someone. The worse part is these people win!!! It is truly sad.

Here in the US you can be sued for anything, anytime and anywhere. Just watch Judge Judy! We have lawyers on tv telling you to call if you "think" you have a case against someone. The worse part is these people win!!! It is truly sad.

SOME of these people win. The vast majority do not. You never hear about the ones that fail, only the ones that win, almost always because of their outrageousness. The justice system, even with it's flaws, is actually pretty savvy of what is a BS lawsuit and what has merit.

Here in the US you can be sued for anything, anytime and anywhere. Just watch Judge Judy! We have lawyers on tv telling you to call if you "think" you have a case against someone. The worse part is these people win!!! It is truly sad.

I've never read a piece by an American being in favor of this. To the contrary, it seems that almost everyone in the US hates the current system of sueing over breaking ribs and hot coffee. My sincere question is: why can't you, in a democracy, make judges throw out cases against someone who is just trying to help. Common sense would do that, no need for a Good Samaritan Law.