helicopter landed on board dec 29th

[Otis1230]

We just got off the oasis on Dec 30th and our last day at sea - the coast guard arrived to take someone off the ship. What concerns me is why it took them from the first annoucement at 12:50 to get to the ship at 415pm. They said the helicopter only lands and removes someone if its life treatening- but it took forever. ANyone know if the person was ok and what happened.

[amc2scott]

We just got off the oasis on Dec 30th and our last day at sea - the coast guard arrived to take someone off the ship. What concerns me is why it took them from the first annoucement at 12:50 to get to the ship at 415pm. They said the helicopter only lands and removes someone if its life treatening- but it took forever. ANyone know if the person was ok and what happened.

Maybe they were stabilizing the patient

[Cruzaholic41]

We just got off the oasis on Dec 30th and our last day at sea - the coast guard arrived to take someone off the ship. What concerns me is why it took them from the first annoucement at 12:50 to get to the ship at 415pm. They said the helicopter only lands and removes someone if its life treatening- but it took forever.

 

A helicopter can only fly so far, and it's not like there is a USCG helicopter everywhere. 3.5 hours is not a bad response time to a cruise ship so far away.

[Otis1230]

the captin did say that the helicopter was coming from keys and it should take 45 mins. But then it turned into hours!!

[Cruzaholic41]

the captin did say that the helicopter was coming from keys and it should take 45 mins. But then it turned into hours!!

 

The nearest USCG air stations in S. Florida are St. Petersburg and Opa Locka (Miami). A helo would have had to fly from one of those stations, refuel in the Keys, then make their way a couple hundred miles out to sea. DH is retired USCG, so I am familiar with these things. Again, considering the logistics and your position, 3.5 hours is not a bad response time.

 

One other thing, an evaluation process takes place prior to launching a helo. A flight surgeon has to evaluate the injuries and approve a medivac by helo.

[Carolla5501]

There is also "prioritization" at work here. There are limited resources and if something else was considered more critical..... you wait!

 

This is a risk of sailing, it could have been MUCH longer... think about it. What if you are in the middle of the Atlantic on a crossing cruise?

[luvaca]

I was on this sailing as well, and the only thing that I heard was that it was a 64 yr. old man. I did hear the priest "father" someone paged that day to come to a meeting spot. I only hope that this person is okay. It's bad enough to have an accident on vacation, so I pray that it wasn't anything worse than that. If anyone knows more, please inform us.

[FLACRUISER99]

We just got off the oasis on Dec 30th and our last day at sea - the coast guard arrived to take someone off the ship. What concerns me is why it took them from the first annoucement at 12:50 to get to the ship at 415pm. They said the helicopter only lands and removes someone if its life treatening- but it took forever. ANyone know if the person was ok and what happened.

 

 

 

I am sure that everone (crew & USCG) did their best. I would not be so critical.

[skyw]

I am a retired military pilot....there are many reasons that it took so long. The availability of aircraft and aircrew, weather and proper information as to the location (lat.long). Also, my husband is an EMS pilot. They need to stabilize the patient before they can fly them. It is a long way to go if a patient is coding. It would be better to stay on the ship that has ER equipment.

 

Also if the aircraft is 45 minutes away, they still need to plan the flight and do paperwork. So even if they were sitting in the aircraft waiting for a call, they would have to devote some time to planning and weather checks.

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

I am a retired military pilot....there are many reasons that it took so long. The availability of aircraft and aircrew, weather and proper information as to the location (lat.long). Also, my husband is an EMS pilot. They need to stabilize the patient before they can fly them. It is a long way to go if a patient is coding. It would be better to stay on the ship that has ER equipment.

 

Also if the aircraft is 45 minutes away, they still need to plan the flight and do paperwork. So even if they were sitting in the aircraft waiting for a call, they would have to devote some time to planning and weather checks.

 

 

TY for a great insight to the behind the scenes of what it takes to evacuate someone off a ship.

 

God Bless everyone who assists in these emergencies. USCG, Flight nurses, doctors, medics, pilots and the ground crew as well...everyone.

 

I pray that I will never need the assistance of these professionals!

 

I hope the man they took off is OK.

 

***

[Aquahound]

We just got off the oasis on Dec 30th and our last day at sea - the coast guard arrived to take someone off the ship. What concerns me is why it took them from the first annoucement at 12:50 to get to the ship at 415pm. They said the helicopter only lands and removes someone if its life treatening- but it took forever. ANyone know if the person was ok and what happened.

 

I was ready to type why it would take so long, but it looks like the reasons have already been covered. I can understand from your perspective on board how it could seem like a ridiculously long time....sorta like waiting for a police officer or an ambulance at the scene of a crash. Things only move so fast and as mentioned earlier, that helicopter had to fly a great distance and probably needed a refuel in Key West. Hopefully your concerns have been answered. This is just an inherent risk of sea travel.

[LBumb]

hopefully the passenger is ok

[Capt_BJ]

consider this

 

if the ship is in international waters why should USCG respond at all?

 

Think about that next time you pay your taxes or see an article about the CG budget . . . ambulance service on the high seas is not in list of missions technically speaking. Why didn't the nearest country respond with their assets? Some have posted here that there are private helo ambulance services that perform this function . . . why not call them?

 

I ran many many of these responses in my day, and towed many a bum boat freighter to safe water, and picked up 'silly' boaters who navigated with a TEXACO road map, and others that simply forgot to buy gas, and divers who forgot where their boat was, and and and . . . the blight of a first responder I suppose.

[cctimmom]

the captin did say that the helicopter was coming from keys and it should take 45 mins. But then it turned into hours!!

 

just quoting this in Otis' defense... I don't think Otis was being "critical" of the response time, but Aquahound brought up a great point... when you are sitting there waiting AND the captain has said that it should take 45 minutes and it's really a couple hours later, it just leads one to wonder why it took so much longer. I think any statements were made out of concern.

[PhoenixCruiser]

TY for a great insight to the behind the scenes of what it takes to evacuate someone off a ship.

 

God Bless everyone who assists in these emergencies. USCG, Flight nurses, doctors, medics, pilots and the ground crew as well...everyone.

 

I pray that I will never need the assistance of these professionals!

 

I hope the man they took off is OK.

 

***

 

Linda, you summed up my thoughts perfectly, thanks :)

 

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[Otis1230]

great insight- thank you for the info. I was surprised after what the captin said 45 min- why so long. But someone we spoke to said they have to stabilize the pt the best they can. I didnt hear the priest being called but this is terrible to hear. I was really concerned if the person was ok and did they make it to a hospital. We were told it was heart related so I assumed an older person. The captin did pick up speed for the few hours prior to the helicopter arriving- security guy stated that he was trying to gain some time incase he would have to slow down later. If anyone knows anything on the condition of the person. I hope they got care in time.

[earn]

Hope the OP was OK. What are your chances if you take ill on a TA? Not ecpecting anything, but we are booked on one next April. Never really considerred that before.

[CRUSINGFAMILY]

We were on Oasis on the Oct 23rd sailing, and we were on our way back to Ft Lauderdale from St Marten, at about 3pm on our first sea day on our return trip we noticed that the ship made a significant left turn, the captain announced that we had turned toward San Juan that their was a medical emergency and a helicopter was coming to pick a sick passinger up. We all went to overlook the helipad and watched the crew prepare the ship for the pickup. After we were their for about 45 minutes the captain announced that it would be about 3 hours until it arrived. Then about an hour later we made a big turn to the right and the captain announced that the passinger was stable and the sea was too rough for a pickup and we would travel faster and would arrive at Fort Lauderdale at midnight instead of 6am for this passenger to get medical attention.