Sick Child-Familythrown off ship (merged)

[crusinmama06]

So what should they have done?

 

Yeah I guess they should have said "Let the child die. I need to get my sounvenir drink glasses packed" :rolleyes:

 

Ten minutes people? Seriously, if your child was in danger and needed emergency medical attention you would need more than 10 minutes to pack? :eek:

 

I know my friends packed my stuff in less than 10 minutes. And we have 5 people in our cabin. AND all of the infant stuff.

[Goldryder]

I would rather have read that the family had been taken off the ship out of caution following this child's illness at such a young age than read about the child dying in mid-ocean due to sudden and severe dehydration with convulsions/fits caused by a stomach illness.

 

Doesn't matter which cruise line it is, being cautious is much better than hoping for the best. A child of 7 months with the level of sickness this one seemed to be experiencing could have been carried off the ship in a box within 12 hours. The parents should definately thank RCI for their prompt actions, not demanding compensation etc.

[CLATHEN]

This entire post should serve as a "poster child" of sorts for trip insurance. I too was penny wise and pound foolish when I took my first cruise and thank God, nothing happened, but I won't be taking that chance again.

[BopRN]

I am a pediatric RN...IMHO the Dr. made a VERY appropriate decision. Infants can deteriorate rapidly and he knew the limitations of his practice and sent them on for better care. He also is probably not very skilled in starting IVs on infants so he wouldn't have had any options but to have the family take the baby elsewhere for re-hydration.

 

My question to the family would be...WHY did they wait until night time to see the ship's Dr?? The baby probably had been sick all day.

 

It happens in the "real" world ALL the time! Parents don't call the Dr. during the day when he is available but then freak out at night and desperately look for someone to help them. Had this family sought help earlier, they would have been back on the ship by sailing time.

[Jtd724]

Always extend the warranty on the product, Always buy travel insurance. 2 things the majortiy of this population don't do and they hate it when it comes to bite em.

[Three Rings]

:mad: I just can't help thinking about this story. Everyone (including me for a while) assumed the ship's doctor made an improper diagnosis of dehydration, and that the hospital's doctor made a correct diagnosis.

 

We all know that ER doctors can make mistakes too.

 

Also, perhaps the baby was given fluids between presenting to the ship's doctor, and arriving at the hospital.

 

And to whoever it was who said this was a "tragedy", well, it's not. It's a "series of unfortunate events". A "tragedy" is if the child had died or had serious complications from not receiving appropriate medical attention, imo.

[alexkrn46]

Another question, why was the whole family kicked off? Couldn't one parent go and let the rest of the family stay on board. Why the security guard? In other situations such as the Smith case, there was someone from customer relations? Did they contact the gate agent when they were done at the hospital?

 

It sounds like RCCL did the right things, but it sounds like were uncaring.

 

My quess is there is more to this story.

[Goldryder]

Another question, why was the whole family kicked off? Couldn't one parent go and let the rest of the family stay on board. Why the security guard? In other situations such as the Smith case, there was someone from customer relations? Did they contact the gate agent when they were done at the hospital?

 

It sounds like RCCL did the right things, but it sounds like were uncaring.

 

My quess is there is more to this story.

 

What is 'uncaring' about a cruise ship doctor deciding that a baby would be better off on land than at sea when it is crapping through the eye of a needle and throwing up more than it is keeping down?

 

It has been known for parts of a family to stay onboard and the rest to go off, but that is quite rare as most families prefer to stay together...especially with a sick baby. Had the baby died and only part of the family was with it at the time, how would the rest of the family have been notified...not to mention how would they have felt, not being there when they were probably most wanted.

 

There was nothing uncaring at all in respect to RCI.

 

Tbh the only uncaring thing I can see is the lack of insurance. The parents decided against it for whatever reason best known to themselves. They assumed that all would be fine and they were wrong. They lucked out and potentially it could have cost the life of their baby.

 

I hope they sort that out for the next holiday they take...cos next time they might not be so lucky.

[crusinmama06]

Another question, why was the whole family kicked off? Couldn't one parent go and let the rest of the family stay on board. Why the security guard? In other situations such as the Smith case, there was someone from customer relations? Did they contact the gate agent when they were done at the hospital?

 

It sounds like RCCL did the right things, but it sounds like were uncaring.

 

My quess is there is more to this story.

 

Nothing would have stopped my husband from jumping off that ship with me. :eek: He was in worse shape than I was. When a baby is sick, it's not like the mom just goes to the ER and the rest of the family finish off the night with the midnight buffet. :rolleyes:

[obsessedsc]

"stuff happens"

 

you have to be prepared when you travel that things may or not be perfect. i cant tell you how many times growing up we went on vacation for a week and i ended up with swimmers ear or a virus or someone traveling with us ended up with a broken arm even one time. this winter even as an adult, i was in NC at the Biltmore and had a gland infection that scared me so bad because i'd never had anything like that before and i ended up spending a lot of money that i didn't have to take care of myself. i think its so unfortunate when people have a bad experience like this with a health care issue and it turns them off because royal caribbean is a great cruise line and ive had some of the best memories of my life on these ships...just because i spent over 1000 dollars on a weekend get away to NC and i got really sick doesnt mean i'll never go back...i'm glad that i didn't have something more serious and life threatening and that they had a hotel dr. that could help me until i could get back home! I hope that the baby is okay and i think that the problem really is that they think its all the cruise lines fault and arent satisfied with the compensation because they probably never want to sail Royal caribbean again....when really its no ones fault and stuff happens! hopefully on their next vacation they will have trip insurance and hey, now they have passports!

[ruskatab]

Nothing would have stopped my husband from jumping off that ship with me. :eek: He was in worse shape than I was. When a baby is sick, it's not like the mom just goes to the ER and the rest of the family finish off the night with the midnight buffet. :rolleyes:

 

What was your daughters diagnosis after she was taken to the hospital? None of my kids ever had a seizure tho ive heard it is quit common with fevers. I would of freaked for sure if they had.

[HorrorFan]

I don't want to argue with anyone about this, and I know there are advocates here of cruising with babies, but I just couldn't imagine doing it.

I just don't think a cruise ship is a smart place to vacation with very young children. And yes, I have two of my own, but the youngest was 8 when we went on our first cruise. Sorry if I insult anyone, but I know babies can get sick very quickly and without any really apparent reason, and a cruise ship would be the last place I would want to be if that happened.

Plus the fact that cruises are expensive, and how much enjoyment is an 8 month old going to get out of a cruise, let alone the mother and father that have to care for him/her. But thats just my two cents worth.

[Ocean Boy]

What was your daughters diagnosis after she was taken to the hospital? None of my kids ever had a seizure tho ive heard it is quit common with fevers. I would of freaked for sure if they had.

 

Febrile seizures are quite common in kids. The problem is when a child has their first one you have to figure out if it is a simple febrile seizure or is it maybe a manifestation of meningitis? Trying to do it, and make good medical decisions, on a cruise ship at sea is challenging to say the least. Anyone here who feels otherwise is greatly uninformed.

[crusinmama06]

What was your daughters diagnosis after she was taken to the hospital? None of my kids ever had a seizure tho ive heard it is quit common with fevers. I would of freaked for sure if they had.

 

Well Port Canaveral Medical Center was useless :rolleyes: . Basically the baby caught an unknown virus, she went from having no fever to a spiked fever over 104 and seized for 45 minutes. By the time we got to PC the emergency was over. The ship's doctor had taken care of it.

 

On the ship, the baby was intebated, shot up with valium, her oxygen levels had hit 80% before intebation and they started an IV with fluids.

 

The ship's doctor wanted her to be seen by a pediatrician.

 

What we didn't know at the time, because she was so young and it had never happened before, is that our daughter has "complex febrile seizures"...it has happen 5 times since that day.

 

When she gets a fever, her temp will shoot up from normal to 104.9 in minutes. Her brain can't handle the sudden shift in temp so it short circuits, so to speak. She seizes and her oxygen levels fall wayyyy down. So I now carry around a syringe and vials of diazepam (valium) with me so I can stop any future seizures.

 

But she has been seizure free for over a year (past the point where the pediatric neurologist said she would outgrow them) so knock on wood, we will never go through that again.

 

And three MORE cruises later...she is now a 3 year old cruise fanatic. ;)

[iheartbda]

Great post, now be prepared to be eaten alive by the RCCL fanatics trying to justtify that.

 

Not exactly sure which post you are referring to.

As far as trying to justify; to prove or show to be just, right or reasonable. The fanatics, as you call them, don't have to try to do anything.

 

RCI did what was just or right; sent the child for further care, vomiting/diarrhea are not signs of just a cold. Reasonable? For sure. They are giving the family a future cruise credit. The family had no passports or insurance so they have no obligation to help the family there, not even as a goodwill gesture as someone will surely come along to suggest.

 

Reread cruisinmama06's post #19, again to see what really happens in a circumstance like this since you thought another poster was being presumptuous.

[Ocean Boy]

Well Port Canaveral Medical Center was useless :rolleyes: . Basically the baby caught an unknown virus, she went from having no fever to a spiked fever over 104 and seized for 45 minutes. By the time we got to PC the emergency was over. The ship's doctor had taken care of it.

 

On the ship, the baby was intebated, shot up with valium, her oxygen levels had hit 80% before intebation and they started an IV with fluids.

 

The ship's doctor wanted her to be seen by a pediatrician.

 

 

What a great tribute to shipboard medical care.

[ChristieNJ]

I personally don't get how the ER doctor on land could diagnose a 7-month old that is vomiting and has diarrhea with a "COLD"??? Was she sneezing with a runny nose all of a sudden?? I think THAT is the doctor that is questionable...not the doctor on the ship!

I think that perhaps RCI could have helped them search out a hospital since it was that late at night, maybe providing some type of direction for the family. But as far as everything else, that baby needed to get to a hospital, no doubt. If it would have died the next day onboard, the family would have had a WAY bigger fit on their hands than what they already do.

[Cruising89143]

Great post, now be prepared to be eaten alive by the RCCL fanatics trying to justtify that.

 

Trying to justify what? The cruise line did the right thing. The doctor on the ship felt that the child needed more medical attention than the ship was capable of giving. Thus the decision was made to move the child to the hospital. The same exact situation happened a month or so ago on Carnival when an elderly man was put off in Roatan due to his having blood in his stool and coming from his mouth. The doctor made the decision to have him removed from the ship. Had she been allowed to stay on board by the doctor and the situation taken a turn for the worse, the news would be reporting how the cruise line was responsible for that. This now makes two cases where either family did not have insurance. That is the bottom line here. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this one out. Just someone with a little "common" sense.

[RCCL 1]

I have a lot questions about this story

1. The ship's itinerary is posted as Nassau, Bahamas 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, so what time did they really leave the ship

2. Did the ship leave on time or did it return to Nassau

3. If it was before the ship left at 6:00 PM did they really think the ship was going to wait for them

Does anyone know the true story????????

[nrdsb4]

I personally don't get how the ER doctor on land could diagnose a 7-month old that is vomiting and has diarrhea with a "COLD"??? Was she sneezing with a runny nose all of a sudden?? I think THAT is the doctor that is questionable...not the doctor on the ship!

 

I think that perhaps RCI could have helped them search out a hospital since it was that late at night, maybe providing some type of direction for the family. But as far as everything else, that baby needed to get to a hospital, no doubt. If it would have died the next day onboard, the family would have had a WAY bigger fit on their hands than what they already do.

 

I don't get it either. I have to confess that I wondered briefly if the family had misreported the hospital diagnosis in order to get more sympathy for their case, but of course there's no evidence of that presented. I might buy a child with a cold having a little diarrhea and a low grade fever, but not to the degree that was described.

 

Weird.

[nrdsb4]

Great post, now be prepared to be eaten alive by the RCCL fanatics trying to justtify that.

 

Absolutely, as well as the ones posted by those who believe everything they read in the media about big, bad corporations beating up on the little customer (who's always right).

[madforcruising]

"stuff happens"

 

you have to be prepared when you travel that things may or not be perfect. i cant tell you how many times growing up we went on vacation for a week and i ended up with swimmers ear or a virus or someone traveling with us ended up with a broken arm even one time. this winter even as an adult, i was in NC at the Biltmore and had a gland infection that scared me so bad because i'd never had anything like that before and i ended up spending a lot of money that i didn't have to take care of myself. i think its so unfortunate when people have a bad experience like this with a health care issue and it turns them off because royal caribbean is a great cruise line and ive had some of the best memories of my life on these ships...just because i spent over 1000 dollars on a weekend get away to NC and i got really sick doesnt mean i'll never go back...i'm glad that i didn't have something more serious and life threatening and that they had a hotel dr. that could help me until i could get back home! I hope that the baby is okay and i think that the problem really is that they think its all the cruise lines fault and arent satisfied with the compensation because they probably never want to sail Royal caribbean again....when really its no ones fault and stuff happens! hopefully on their next vacation they will have trip insurance and hey, now they have passports!

 

I doubt that. From the news story it said they got emergency passports. I would think they are just good for re-entering the country but not the same as the regular passport.

[Arizona Laura]

Media sensationalism.

Family should be more upset with themselves in foolishly not getting cruise insurance.

Also how did they get airline tickets home for 5 people for 650.00 total?

Alot of unanswered questions..how long vomiting and diarrhea, fever? how high and how long, was the infant taking fluids? How long was the child ill before getting medical intervention?

The child may have had cold symptoms however with vomiting and diarrhea that would have complicated the picture even more than a GI illness.

Also if a doctor said your child was ill enough to be seen in the hospital you are mad because you are made to leave the ship? You're upset because you want to continue your vacation?

Also who knows what medical intervention was done in the infirmary that may have improved the child's status.

The family is making a big deal to get RCL to reimburse them for all their expenses using the media as their weapon.

Maybe RCCl kept saying ten minutes for the time frame because the family was resisting leaving the ship.

I hope RCCL does not waiver and does not set a precedent in reimbursing this family.

Laura

[Goldryder]

Yesterday someone went base over apex on Liberty of the Seas and broke an arm in 3 places and got medevaced...

 

http://www.nbc6.net/news/16008018/detail.html

 

I wonder if they will demand anything of RCI.....afterall they were skating on the ice rink at the time.

 

Insurance...DO NOT leave home without it...it is a small price to pay regardless as to whether you lose your suitcase or lose your life.

[veryhotred]

Let's turn this around and suppose it wasn't a child but an adult who had symptoms of a heart attack. The ship would not be equipped for this and the passenger and famiy would have to deal with the same situation. This is only "newsworthy" because it's a baby. I can't stand people who parade stories like this around just because it's a baby. Is the world supposed to stop because YOUR child is sick?! I would be upset if I was on the cruise and it waited around. They gave them 10 minutes because their was 2,000+ more passengers on their vacation. and their kid is sick! They needed to go to a hospital

 

Why would someone bring such a young baby on a cruise? I'm only 27 with no kids and have enough sense to know their immune systems are weak and get sick at the drop of a hat. Go someplace that can accomodate them a little better.

 

Some people like to travel with their children, don't get on them for that, come on!!!!!!! If your child is healthy there is no way to know something like that was/is going to happen.