Emergency situation awareness

[Sauvignon]

On a recent cruise on the Crown the following situation occurred which left me a rather concerned.

 

I was waiting for a mid-ship elevator on deck 5. An elevator arrived and the usual ''bing'' sounded.

 

A gentleman who was also waiting turned around to see which elevator had arrived and lost his footing. He fell backwards and hit his head on the faux pillar surrounding an elevator and fell to the floor bleeding from the back of his head.

 

I immediately rushed to the International cafe just a few steps away and said to a server to call for medical assistance as a man had fallen and hit his head - she looked at me blankly. I repeated this to her colleague who was standing a few paces behind her and got a similar response. I then proceeded to the bar counter and repeated the request for a third time to the barman/barrista. He came around to the 'public' side of the bar acknowledged that a situation had occurred and called for a colleague to dial 911.

 

My point is that valuable minutes were lost by staff who seemed unable to react adequately to an emergency situation. While I do not expect all crew and staff to be medically trained I am rather surprised that these individuals seemed unable to initiate and/or be aware of any sort of procedure to deal with such situations.

[dllyon]

On a recent cruise on the Crown the following situation occurred which left me a rather concerned.

 

I was waiting for a mid-ship elevator on deck 5. An elevator arrived and the usual ''bing'' sounded.

 

A gentleman who was also waiting turned around to see which elevator had arrived and lost his footing. He fell backwards and hit his head on the faux pillar surrounding an elevator and fell to the floor bleeding from the back of his head.

 

I immediately rushed to the International cafe just a few steps away and said to a server to call for medical assistance as a man had fallen and hit his head - she looked at me blankly. I repeated this to her colleague who was standing a few paces behind her and got a similar response. I then proceeded to the bar counter and repeated the request for a third time to the barman/barrista. He came around to the 'public' side of the bar acknowledged that a situation had occurred and called for a colleague to dial 911.

 

My point is that valuable minutes were lost by staff who seemed unable to react adequately to an emergency situation. While I do not expect all crew and staff to be medically trained I am rather surprised that these individuals seemed unable to initiate and/or be aware of any sort of procedure to deal with such situations.

 

 

I would sent this off to Princess, so they will be aware of the problem and take steps to correct in the future.

If they are not aware they can not fix

[Pia1913]

On a recent cruise on the Crown the following situation occurred which left me a rather concerned.

 

I was waiting for a mid-ship elevator on deck 5. An elevator arrived and the usual ''bing'' sounded.

 

A gentleman who was also waiting turned around to see which elevator had arrived and lost his footing. He fell backwards and hit his head on the faux pillar surrounding an elevator and fell to the floor bleeding from the back of his head.

 

I immediately rushed to the International cafe just a few steps away and said to a server to call for medical assistance as a man had fallen and hit his head - she looked at me blankly. I repeated this to her colleague who was standing a few paces behind her and got a similar response. I then proceeded to the bar counter and repeated the request for a third time to the barman/barrista. He came around to the 'public' side of the bar acknowledged that a situation had occurred and called for a colleague to dial 911.

 

My point is that valuable minutes were lost by staff who seemed unable to react adequately to an emergency situation. While I do not expect all crew and staff to be medically trained I am rather surprised that these individuals seemed unable to initiate and/or be aware of any sort of procedure to deal with such situations.

 

I would venture to say they looked at you blankly because they didn't understand you.

[Sauvignon]

I would venture to say they looked at you blankly because they didn't understand you.

 

OK, so what are you saying here!

[Pia1913]

OK, so what are you saying here!

 

I'm saying that the employees non reaction was due to the fact that they didn't understand what you were saying. You know...........language barrier.

[TiCKed]

Sad to say, you'd probably run into the same situation in any office, restaurant, or shopping mall. Paralysis under stressful situations is probably more normal than us humans would like to admit.

 

And, in reality, the delay didn't sound like it was that significant either. It only takes one person to "get it right", (or in this case, TWO, since you got it right), to remedy the situation.

[rayandshirl]

The employees were non-plussed because English is not their first language and what you said to them did not refer to ordering a drink!

 

On the Golden at Christmas, we ordered a speciality coffee drink and had a difficult time with several of the wait staff in terms of being able to understand what we were ordering!

[MichCook]

I'm saying that the employees non reaction was due to the fact that they didn't understand what you were saying. You know...........language barrier.

 

How would they serve customers if they can't understand English? :confused:

[JEH]

Cruise staff should be trained in the most basic English, Spanish, German, French and otherl languages calls for Help. No excuse. Reading of body language is also acceptable

[Rockymountainsparky]

Cruise staff should be trained in the most basic English, Spanish, German, French and otherl languages calls for Help. No excuse. Reading of body language is also acceptable

 

 

I quite agree.

[Pia1913]

Cruise staff should be trained in the most basic English, Spanish, German, French and otherl languages calls for Help. No excuse. Reading of body language is also acceptable

 

You're expecting too much. How many of those other languages are you conversant with? You could speak to me in French from today until tomorrow and I wouldn't understand a word except champagne and oui.

[Toto2Kansas]

This is one of those situations, I think, where we might have had to actually been there to see why you are so upset.

My guess is that a staff member had to check out the problem before they called 911 (see it with their own eyes, and I would also guess it would be the one in charge) to make sure the gentleman was actually in need of medical assistance and didn't get up and walk off while you were reporting it. Although I am sure you would never report a false alarm, there are many that actually would in this day and age. Panic strikes and they run for help even when it is not wanted or needed.

I do agree that the staff in public places do need to understand at least basic English, and there could have been a language problem involved in this episode.

 

But again, I wasn't there, so it will have to only be a guess.

[julia]

Emergency! Emergencia! Notfall! Cas de Urgence! Oh &^%$#!!

 

YES... every single employee on the ship should know these words and act swiftly to call the proper staff.

[simcoeguy]

At the very low wages that cruise lines pay service staff, there is little hope of hiring staff that are multilingual. Often their English is just barely adequate to perform their duties. Hiring staff that all speak various languages would increase labour costs, and thus fares for all of us.

No matter where you travel in the world, even of cruise ships, you should make yourself familiar with the phone number for emergency situations. Grab a phone and call for help yourself. 911 is common the world over, but some ships use a different 3 digit number. There are house phones all over the ship; at every bar and yes in every elevator lobby. Often there is no time to find a service staff member that understands our needs.

[SuiteLady]

Yes, I agree that it should be (and find it hard to believe that it's not) part of their job training!! It is a known fact that cruising subjects you to many people, that speak many diffierent languages....paying customers, as well as staff....then again, unfortunately some people freeze when in an emergency, and it has nothing to do with a language barrier....but I also agree with above poster, you should send this off to the cruise line so they can address it.

[DeepWaterMariner]

Without witnessing what happened we can only speculate on the perceived slow response. I can certainly imagine a similar situation where staff members who are normally conversant in a language would have trouble understanding a request that is shouted or spoken very quickly or both. Even 911 operators want you to slow down so they can understand the situation and get the relevant information.

[remydiva]

The employees were non-plussed because English is not their first language and what you said to them did not refer to ordering a drink!

 

On the Golden at Christmas, we ordered a speciality coffee drink and had a difficult time with several of the wait staff in terms of being able to understand what we were ordering!

 

.....BUT holding up one finger and saying 'Coors Light' is understood in 12 different languages at least :)

[billie5]

I agree. And knowing the words Emergency, Emergencia, Notfall does not mean that employees who hear a customer (in their minds) babbling about something which happened to someone somewhere else would have any idea about what has just happened.

 

Certainly, however, the OP is to be commended for trying to get help.

 

Bill

[Shoalwater]

I was at dinner at a popular seaside restaurant when I heard a commotion on the other side of the room that rapidly grew from noise to scouts and screaming. A a 5 yr girl was choking and everyone was frozen, the wait staff that are supposed to be trained in the Heimlich procedure were also staring. Several were trying to dial 911 (took us 25 mins to brave the traffic on the road leading to the restaurant, 911 was futile). I ran across the room, pumped her a few times and all was good. My point is that in an emergency situation if you recognize it, you should take charge. There are phones by the elevators, so whoever witnessed the fall should call 911 on the ship phone rather than ask wait staff.

[Kinkacruiser]

Perhaps installing and emergency phone in elevators would be a good idea. Then a fellow passenger can call the medical centre. I hope the gentleman was OK.

[DMRick]

I thought all the crew that interact with customers on a cruise ship (maybe not those always painting, or more laborers, but those actually intereacting) were required to know English..maybe not all words, but certainly the word emergency. If not, they should.

[lolane1]

Yes, I agree that it should be (and find it hard to believe that it's not) part of their job training!! It is a known fact that cruising subjects you to many people, that speak many diffierent languages....paying customers, as well as staff....then again, unfortunately some people freeze when in an emergency, and it has nothing to do with a language barrier....but I also agree with above poster, you should send this off to the cruise line so they can address it.

 

I totally agree with you SuiteLady. I think many human beings freeze in the face of an emergency. I certainly have experienced "Deer in Headlights" many times myself. I think our brains needed to process what has occurred, was being said, and time to figure out how to handle the situation correctly. Perhaps they couldn't understand the OP because she was frantic, not speaking clearly, or speaking too fast. Perhaps if OP gave a directive saying, "Please call for medical help", there might have been an immediate response. Less for staff to process and directions given.

It is a shame that the passenger got injured, and admirable that the OP acted to get him immediate help. But I don't think it is fair to condemn staff behind a coffee counter without talking to them to find out what happened. So as others have suggested, this should be sent to Princess.

[LHT28]

Most cruise ships I have been on have a phone right near the elevators ...

dial 911 or 00 to get help

Maybe the OP was in a state of panic when trying to get attention just like when people call 911 at home...the dispatchers have to calm them down to get the info required

[Sauvignon]

I initiated this post in order to gauge other peoples opinion of the handling of this. I accept and understand some of the views expressed though rather than being upset as one poster suggested I was just surprised by how the situation played out.

 

While I agree I could have dialed 911 my self - if I recall correctly there is a telephone on the stage area where the piano is - that is not what I did on this occasion. I acted with urgency not panic and alerted staff who were very close by.

 

It it is simply their reaction - or lack of it that surprised me and caused me to question my expectation and hence post here. As some have said, perhaps my expectation was too great - however the ship is a relatively closed community and my expectation was that all customer facing staff would be trained to react in a particular way - even if that is just telling someone else.

 

I do not want to over dramatize this event or any other, as one poster suggested the delay was probably not significant however the question remains, In a more serious situation what level of response should we expect? Clearly it seems that the safety and security of passengers is the responsibility of both staff, crew AND fellow passengers

[Pia1913]

Perhaps installing and emergency phone in elevators would be a good idea. Then a fellow passenger can call the medical centre. I hope the gentleman was OK.

 

There is an emergency phone in the elevators.