Pray You Don"t Need Medical Attention On Crown Princess!!!

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Sorry to hear about this unfortunate end to your cruise and wish your dad a speedy recovery.

Every ship should have sufficient equipment available of all decks to deal with medical emergencies of any kind.

This is an unacceptable way for PCL to deal with emergencies and hope they deal with and rectify this.:eek: :eek:

[ssatterly]

I am an EMT myself and for a ship that large to take that long or not have the correct equipment is uncalled for. They need to revamp their medical protcalls.

 

Heck even malls now have difiberaltors for publics use.

 

I hope your father is ok and doing better please keep us posted.

[ssbeagle]

There have been articles about medical facilities on cruise ships not being up to par with shore facilities. Many cruise lines are working to rectify this problem. Having cruised with Princess many times we have seen medical emergencies on almost every cruise where ambulances come to the ship when docked or once we even turned around to go to Guantanamo where they took a seriously ill passenger to the hospital there and again in Tahiti. When my mother developed problems breathing, she was taken care of very well and was able to complete the cruise with us and they followed up with her regularly. The nurses and doctor were very good (it was the Star Princess). There should also be emergency kits around the ships and I hope Princess will take care of that.

 

I hope your dad recovers. Please write letters to Princess and let your TA know and see what they can do to get Princess to take note.

[SUN TURNIP]

My mother and I had a similar situation on the Caribbean Princess last year. My mother had requested wheelchar assistance while we were boarding the ship and the cruise ship employee was pushing her down the gangway and flipped her out of the wheelchair, hurting her knee. It was a crazy experience. The medical center on the ship refused to treat her unless she paid hundrends of dollars in advance. This was no fault of hers, the employee was poorly trained on how to wheel someone down the gangway.

 

I hope that your father is doing well and has a speedy recovery.

[TwinCruiserMom]

When we were on the Caribbean Princess last month, we stepped out of our room on the Plaza Deck and saw a resuscitation mannequin on the ground near the art hallway. There was a crew member there and we then heard a "code" call over head. The crew member told us it was a drill, but the medical personnel did not know that. Within minutes, 2 or 3 medical personnel with a gurney and equipment were barreling around the atrium and through the art hallway. Very quick response!

 

My husband is an RN and works ER/ICU and he was very impressed with their response. He even remarked that it was good to know that they were ready if there was an actual emergency.

 

Please do write a letter detailing the treatment you received on the Crown. That situation needs to be addressed immediately. Hopefully Princess will tighten their medical standards so all passengers, on all of their ships, can have the benefit of excellent emergency care.

[sarapb]

I was on another cruise line and fell down the stairs, it took forever for the medical staff to arrive. They seemed more concerned about writing up an accident report then taking care of me. I was wheeled to their medical area, as my son wondered the ship...because I did not show up where we were meeting and then about 2 hours later he went concerned to the pursers desk and they located me. I was fine after a few x-rays, it was my leg. They did check up on me and I did receive a discount on my next booking due to their lack of response. I was lucky it wasn't anything serious and that my son was a teen and was smart enough to ask where I was.

[happy cruzer]

I wonder what the actual legal requirements are. Princess ships are not US flagged. I wonder if we all expect better medical attention on any cruise line than what is legally required? I know that when we look at one specific case the response looks horrific. But if they were staffed up like an emergency critical care unit I wonder how much cost that would add for equipment, personnel, training, liability insurance? I mean if you were staying in a hotel and fell, you would not expect very much from the actual hotel staff.

 

I am sorry to hear about this serious accident and I do think that it being disbarcation time made the response worse. Thank you for sharing the warning.

[Philip217]

Typically there are 2 periods during a cruise when the medical staff can be stretched pretty thin:

 

1. During passenger boat drill when you have a dozen or more passengers tumbling down staircases on their way to the drill, and as many as a dozen more collapsing for various reasons during the drill itself.

 

2. During disembarkation, when thousands of people are rushing to get off the ship. Once again there are many minor accidents on staircases, people fainting, suitcases, scooters and wheelchairs are blocking corridors. Any medical emergencies are being disembarked via crew gangways, any deceased passengers are being disembarked with their families via other gangways, any crew with onshore medical appointments are being processed in crew areas, newly embarked crew are being processed in crew areas, and medical staff are preparing questionnaires and equipment to go to their stations in the terminal to meet and interview any potentially sick new passengers.

 

The medical staff - even on a very large cruise ship - is usually no more than 6 people; typically 2 doctors and 4 nurses. If one or more of them needs to be at all of the events listed above - all at the same time - and then you have an additional medical emergency, what sort of response time can you expect?

 

Could it be that there were other more serious medical problems already going on that possibly prevented the medical staff from responding as quickly as they might have liked?

 

Were one of more of them already in the terminal when this emergency occurred, and then had to get through security to get back onto the ship to handle it?

 

There are many possible reasons why this delay happened. Who are we - who know next to nothing about the actual situation - to judge their actions?

[sultan_sfo]

Very "nice" of you to speculate all the possible reasons for the poor response on behalf of Princess! Too bad you stopped numbering them after just two. Otherwise, you would make a career politician. /Sultan

 

...

There are many possible reasons why this delay happened. Who are we - who know next to nothing about the actual situation - to judge their actions?

[Crown Prince]

I am so sorry this happened to you and I hope your Dad has a speedy recovery.

 

I was on the Crown in November and had an excellent experience with the medical staff. I am hoping your situation was a fluke. It is appalling to hear how they handled your Dad.

 

A Fluke is a stroke of Good Luck! ;)

[oraf7]

Dad is going back to the Doctors tommorow for a CT Scan. He has two very black eyes, severly swollen shoulder and hand and is in terrible pain. As to the poster who thinks I was too involved in the incident I must tell you that I had all my wits about me to know how long it was taking and that whether this ship was embarking or disembarking there is simply no excuse to not have adequate supplies or help. I couldn't get a facecloth let alone some gauze pads for the bleeding. I will be writing a letter to Princess and Thank God my Father is here with us and also not crippled.

There was no ambulance called and he was simply wheelchaired out to our transortation and told to take Tylenol.

I thank you all for your concern and truly wish I could find the Doctor from CA so that my Family can thank him and the other two medical professionals. They were very verbal during this incident and felt sick to their stomach at the care he received especially making him crawl backwards down the stairs. Aqain true Angels coming to the rescue. As for other Medical emergencies the Center was completely empty and there were 3 people sitting around at their desks. Sometimes I wonder if the staff is there more for the employees benefits instead of the passengers.

I think I will advocate by calling my local newstations to get this horrifying story out there and put these cruise lines on their darn toes. Remember sceptics this could be your Mom, Dad, Child or loved one so just think about how you would like your family member treated and if any excuse such as being to busy would satisfy you!

[land lover]

My question is if they were docked and medical staff "busy" why weren't the local paramedics called?

 

To have your father go down the stairs as he did was uncalled for, thank God for his "angels"....hope he is recovery is speedy...

 

We had a medical situation on RCI and received excellent treatment.

[Philip217]

How do you know that the local paramedics were NOT called?

[janetz]

Dad is going back to the Doctors tommorow for a CT Scan. He has two very black eyes, severly swollen shoulder and hand and is in terrible pain. As to the poster who thinks I was too involved in the incident I must tell you that I had all my wits about me to know how long it was taking and that whether this ship was embarking or disembarking there is simply no excuse to not have adequate supplies or help. I couldn't get a facecloth let alone some gauze pads for the bleeding. I will be writing a letter to Princess and Thank God my Father is here with us and also not crippled.

There was no ambulance called and he was simply wheelchaired out to our transortation and told to take Tylenol.

I thank you all for your concern and truly wish I could find the Doctor from CA so that my Family can thank him and the other two medical professionals. They were very verbal during this incident and felt sick to their stomach at the care he received especially making him crawl backwards down the stairs. Aqain true Angels coming to the rescue. As for other Medical emergencies the Center was completely empty and there were 3 people sitting around at their desks. Sometimes I wonder if the staff is there more for the employees benefits instead of the passengers.

I think I will advocate by calling my local newstations to get this horrifying story out there and put these cruise lines on their darn toes. Remember sceptics this could be your Mom, Dad, Child or loved one so just think about how you would like your family member treated and if any excuse such as being to busy would satisfy you!

 

 

 

Here is another way to get your word out..:o

 

 

 

http://www.internationalcruisevictims.org/index.html

[Northender]

OP - so sorry you had to go through this after what seems to have been a nice cruise. I hope you Dad is ok. You should call our local TV stations, especially if the Crown is making an appearance in Boston this season.

 

Keep us advised on how your Dad is doing. I know you want to personally thank the Drs that came to your rescue. You keep calling them your Angels, and maybe that is exactly what they were.:)

[Jacqueline]

Even if the medical staff were streched thin (which was not the case), there should be more than a handful of people on the ship trained in first aid.

There should have been supplies at hand. Why they did not have a backboard/stabilization equipment or use it also points to substandard treatment.

There is no rationalizing this (although some of you are trying pretty darn hard).

Do what you must to garner attention regarding this incident for the benefit of future passengers.

[pudgy]

Dad is going back to the Doctors tommorow for a CT Scan. He has two very black eyes, severly swollen shoulder and hand and is in terrible pain. As to the poster who thinks I was too involved in the incident I must tell you that I had all my wits about me to know how long it was taking and that whether this ship was embarking or disembarking there is simply no excuse to not have adequate supplies or help. I couldn't get a facecloth let alone some gauze pads for the bleeding. I will be writing a letter to Princess and Thank God my Father is here with us and also not crippled.

There was no ambulance called and he was simply wheelchaired out to our transortation and told to take Tylenol.

I thank you all for your concern and truly wish I could find the Doctor from CA so that my Family can thank him and the other two medical professionals. They were very verbal during this incident and felt sick to their stomach at the care he received especially making him crawl backwards down the stairs. Aqain true Angels coming to the rescue. As for other Medical emergencies the Center was completely empty and there were 3 people sitting around at their desks. Sometimes I wonder if the staff is there more for the employees benefits instead of the passengers.

I think I will advocate by calling my local newstations to get this horrifying story out there and put these cruise lines on their darn toes. Remember sceptics this could be your Mom, Dad, Child or loved one so just think about how you would like your family member treated and if any excuse such as being to busy would satisfy you!

 

How come you and everyone else did not move your father down the stairs why did everyone watch him "crawl backwards down the stairs." when he had "severly swollen shoulder and hand and is in terrible pain."

[Azhure]

How come you and everyone else did not move your father down the stairs why did everyone watch him "crawl backwards down the stairs." when he had "severly swollen shoulder and hand and is in terrible pain."

 

Would you really want to pick up someone in that much pain!!! You don't know what will make it worse, you could end up causing even more damage. Because he had no choice at least he would know what movement gave him pain.

What they made him do is....well I can't think of any polite words here. :mad:

[pudgy]

Would you really want to pick up someone in that much pain!!! You don't know what will make it worse, you could end up causing even more damage. Because he had no choice at least he would know what movement gave him pain.

What they made him do is....well I can't think of any polite words here. :mad:

 

No i would not want to pick someone up in that much pain. I would not of moved him OR let him move himself. How much more damaged could he have done by going backwards down the stairs losing his balance because he is using a sore hand and shoulder. Puttting the extra weight on damaged bones. I am not defending Princess and I am not a Princess cheerleader just check my posts. What they did,there conduct and not having proper equipment is terrible. . But to let a injured person let alone a older person with damaged shoulder and hands go down backwards on stirs is not right.

[Azhure]

No i would not want to pick someone up in that much pain. I would not of moved him OR let him move himself. How much more damaged could he have done by going backwards down the stairs losing his balance because he is using a sore hand and shoulder. Puttting the extra weight on damaged bones. I am not defending Princess and I am not a Princess cheerleader just check my posts. What they did,there conduct and not having proper equipment is terrible. . But to let a injured person let alone a older person with damaged shoulder and hands go down backwards on stirs is not right.

 

Don't get me wrong pudgy, I was not advocating he be moved at all except with the proper equipment. I never once felt you were defending Princess, so please don't take what I said the wrong way.

I just felt that given the horrible choice they gave him, at least by moving himself he had a tiny little bit of control. God, if I was in that position, watching my aged father or grandfather being made to do that, I would have ripped of part of the wall and made a stretcher....

The family was in a no win situation.

[pudgy]

Don't get me wrong pudgy, I was not advocating he be moved at all except with the proper equipment. I never once felt you were defending Princess, so please don't take what I said the wrong way.

I just felt that given the horrible choice they gave him, at least by moving himself he had a tiny little bit of control. God, if I was in that position, watching my aged father or grandfather being made to do that, I would have ripped of part of the wall and made a stretcher....

The family was in a no win situation.

 

I am sorry I did take your post the wrong way. That's the worst part of just typing things sometimes you don't take things the way they are meant. I know it would of been terrible to watch and I hope that the poster gets some results. And in all fairness I don't know what I would of done. I think I know what I would of done but when time comes .......

[wizard-of-roz]

We had this happen on an NCL cruise....we got a chair from the lido buffet area, placed the man in it and four men carried him to the elevator and then to the medical area.

I'm sorry you experienced this....it can be very frightening!

I'm a strong advocate for these defibulators being in ALL public places (especially where the elderly may congregate!) It's amazing to see what they've done to revolutionize the airline industry (in saving many lives).

[oraf7]

My Dad weighs a little over 300lbs so moving him intimidated people because they were afraid of dropping him and further injuring him. This is why you need adequate staff and equipment on this floating city. I am sorry but the more I think of the whole situation the more angry I am becoming. Dad we found out to no surprise broke his nose and will find out all other results tommorow.

His internist was in tears when he saw the extent of his injuries and said it's a MIRACLE that he is alive with the injuries sustained.

Again I don't blame Princess for the Fall just the inadequate care for an injured Human Being on their ship.,

I will always be thankful especially as Saturday was my Dads Birthday that complete strangers saved his life. Now if I could only locate them to Thank them personally. Again thanks everyone for your support and caring thoughts and I will let you know the results.

Also they rotate the staff so maybe the people who had a posiitive experience thank god had a different medical crew.

[Muskoka2]

I am sincerely concerned that you do not seem to be taking the issues here to a higher area of complaint...not only to report what happened but to help insure that it does not happen to other people. A full investigation is needed.

Please ask for an investigation. Thank you.

[Jacqueline]

Muskoka is RIGHT. Please don't spend any energy on the board. Make sure that Princess gets this information so that they can correct the problem.