Back from Freedom April 13- blood wanted message?

[YadaYadaJodi]

First of all - those of you that don't know your blood type - if you're able one of the "best" ways to find out your blood type is by being a blood donor. I say "best" because you may actually save up to 3 lives with 1 donation. Only about 5% of eligible donors give blood but I bet very close to a 100% of them expect some to be available to them when they need it (at least onshore).

 

Second of all - I donate to the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Bank. They make an exception for Labadee. You can't donate for a yr if you go to Haiti but since the Labadee cruise port is separate they make an exception for it. So be sure you say Labadee not Haiti when checking your eligibility.

 

Currently I am on a year deferral because of Belize & Roatan. If we had stayed in Belize City I don't think that would have excluded me but we didn't plus we went ziplining in Roatan so that definitely excluded me for a year anyway. Glad my ports this year won't result in a deferral.

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Just read on another thread that the Independence sailing had a premature birth, open heart surgery and some other mishap all in the one week.

 

The open heart surgery surprised me - surely they're not equipped for that?!

 

Having had to get some injections on a ship before, and having to pause as myself and the nurse slid across the room, I hope they had calm seas if they were operating!

 

 

Can you provide a link to that thread?

 

***

[ARCruisinNana]

That's me exactly! I'm also A- and a regular donor or I was anyway until I went to Labadee two years in a row and have been banned a year each time. It's been a year now since I've been to Labadee so hopefully I'm good to go again.

 

I keep going back to Labadee. I'm going again next week, so no blood donation for me. Seems kinda silly, but I understand. Just read the next post about Belize and Roatan. That knocks me out even more. Interesting about the exception for Labadee. They've always looked at the map and said Haiti, but it's been a couple years.

Edited April 15, 2014 by ARCruisinNana

[xpcdoojk]

That's me exactly! I'm also A- and a regular donor or I was anyway until I went to Labadee two years in a row and have been banned a year each time. It's been a year now since I've been to Labadee so hopefully I'm good to go again.

 

I donate regularly and I make sure I skip the ports and sailings that would keep me from donating. I will go to a deferred area for a land vacation, but I am not going to go for a single day to a deferred area. Needless to say it makes picking a cruise difficult for me with RCI.

 

jc

[MaryL31]

xpcdoojk-I admire your dedication to the cause of donating blood. I never gave a thought about exactly which ports would keep one from donating. I have donated in the past, but really should make more of an effort to donate regularly. Kudos!

[Familygoboston]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2025919

Post 9, in an Indy review:eek:

[Az's Cruising Nana]

Just read on another thread that the Independence sailing had a premature birth, open heart surgery and some other mishap all in the one week.

 

The open heart surgery surprised me - surely they're not equipped for that?!

 

Having had to get some injections on a ship before, and having to pause as myself and the nurse slid across the room, I hope they had calm seas if they were operating!

 

Open heart surgery on a ship highly unlikely. You would need an entire team trained on highly sophisticated medical equipment. I highly doubt a ship has an OR suite let alone an ICU capable of handling that type of situation. Not to mention a cardiac surgeon onboard.

 

Sue

[BecciBoo]

Its happened on 2 of our cruises, I am O+, DH is A+ and on both occasions we both made a mad dash for the clinic but they had over 100 people respond on both occasions, cruisers are good folks.

[Shekim]

Open heart surgery on a ship highly unlikely. You would need an entire team trained on highly sophisticated medical equipment. I highly doubt a ship has an OR suite let alone an ICU capable of handling that type of situation. Not to mention a cardiac surgeon onboard.

 

Sue

I have to agree; on Navigator a couple of weeks ago I slipped and fell. Went to the ship's doctor and she said she wanted to do xrays. She and the nurse could barely figure out how to use the machine/which settings to use. She mentioned I should go see a doctor in JAMAICA! Really? NO...

[jmrothermel]

If you need a transfusion on the ship, is it screened and tested like transfusions are here in the states? I mean if it was life or death - I see the need, but some people walk around with Hepatitis or HIV and don't know they have it. As a nurse I guess it just freaks me out :p

 

 

~Jacqui~ Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[DrD]

That's true a lot of people don't know their blood types....being ex-military and trying to my hubby a kidney, I know mine....we really should know our blood type...if you don't know please find out!,,,,

 

Good luck.

 

If you are blood-type incompatible with your husband please google national kidney registry.

[DrD]

. Also, they indicated that you needed to not have had an alcoholic drink in the previous two hours.

 

Sent from my HTC One using Forums mobile app

 

That would rule out a lot of people!

 

It's silly anyway, the amount of alcohol in a unit of whole blood would be small, and if someone needed an emergency transfusion it's not like giving the guy a small amount of alcohol along with the blood would matter.

[DrD]

If you need a transfusion on the ship, is it screened and tested like transfusions are here in the states? I mean if it was life or death - I see the need, but some people walk around with Hepatitis or HIV and don't know they have it. As a nurse I guess it just freaks me out :p

 

 

~Jacqui~ Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Don't see how it could be, you need a pretty sophisticated lab for that.

[TigerLady]

Did anyone else on the cruise hear the O negative blood wanted immediately message early this morning? Any idea what happened?

 

I read on another thread that is was for a heart surgery, ship returned to Florida early and they wanted to make sure they had enough blood, since it wasn't a planned surgery. Check the RCCL thread boards. think it was a returning Indy cruise. Not positive, as you know how rumors on here catch fire..

[kycruiser72]

Thank you for asking. I heard the call too around 3:25am. I was so concerned I had trouble sleeping afterward. No one else in my extended group heard the call. I just couldn't imagine what happened to someone and it really freaked me out. I thought we were so close to port that it seemed they could get help from the coast guard if it was that much of an emergency. We were in the port by 4:40 so only about an hour away.

 

I just hope whoever was in need got some O negative blood and are doing okay.

 

My wife and I heard the call on the Freedom. I wasn't sleeping well that night anyway and when the PA chimed I thought it was odd. My wife has O neg blood and went down to see if she would be needed. There were already several people down at the MED area. They took the first few certified blood donors and noted a few other passengers room numbers just in case. As far as my wife could tell it was a passenger from Michigan. She said one of the family members came out and said thank you for helping. I did see them stretcher some one off right after we arrived in port. I hope she is OK.

 

MC

[PattyG12]

Second of all - I donate to the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Bank. They make an exception for Labadee. You can't donate for a yr if you go to Haiti but since the Labadee cruise port is separate they make an exception for it. So be sure you say Labadee not Haiti when checking your eligibility.

 

Your comment made me wonder. Specifically saying "Labadee as a cruise port" I sent an email to Red cross and received this in response:

 

Thank you for contacting The American Red Cross. We appreciate your time and willingness to keep our blood supply at a safe level by wanting to donate at one of our collection sites. In regards to your question you will not be eligible to donate for 12 months from the date you returned back to the United States.

 

If you have any questions of concerns please feel free to contact us by replying back to this email or by calling 1-866-236-3276. Have a great day and once again thank you for taking the time to contact us.

 

******** **********

DCSC Eligibility

[xpcdoojk]

Your comment made me wonder. Specifically saying "Labadee as a cruise port" I sent an email to Red cross and received this in response:

 

Thank you for contacting The American Red Cross. We appreciate your time and willingness to keep our blood supply at a safe level by wanting to donate at one of our collection sites. In regards to your question you will not be eligible to donate for 12 months from the date you returned back to the United States.

 

If you have any questions of concerns please feel free to contact us by replying back to this email or by calling 1-866-236-3276. Have a great day and once again thank you for taking the time to contact us.

 

******** **********

DCSC Eligibility

 

Concur, Belize except for Belize City is another deferal port. I was, also, deferred for visiting Costa Maya. I have been deferred for visiting portions of Costa Rica (Guanecasta). Obviously, the Amazon is another area regularly visited by cruisers. I am sure that there are more, but those are the ones that have bitten me.

 

jc

[Pam]

If you stay on the ship when it is at one of the deferred ports, will you still be unable to donate blood?

[xpcdoojk]

If you stay on the ship when it is at one of the deferred ports, will you still be unable to donate blood?

 

The only time we sailed to Costa Maya, I stayed on the ship the entire day because it was a rainy miserable day. I was deferred for one year. I knew I was not bitten by a mosquito. I knew I didn't have Malaria. You can lie, but if you tell the truth they are supposed to defer you for one year.

 

jc