Cruise Law News : Maritime Lawyer & Attorney : James M. Walker : Walker & O'Neill Law Firm : Admiralty Law, Cruise Ship Accidents & Injuries

Two U.S. Coast Guard air crews from San Diego and Sacramento worked together to medevac a sick cruise ship passenger who was in need of emergency medical attention. 

According to NBC-7 San Diego, the Holland America Line (HAL) cruise ship, Zaandam, was sailing approximately 200 miles southwest of San Diego when a 71-year-old passenger began experiencing what is described as a serious internal medical condition. 

The HAL cruise ship was en route from Hawaii to Ensenada, Mexico. When the passenger became ill, the ship changed course to sail nearer to San Diego. 

A MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew took off from San Diego to meet the ship. A C-130 Hercules airplane crew from Sacramento provided support during the rescue.

The top video shows the helicopter crew hoisting the ailing passenger from the cruise ship.

The bottom video is taken from the C-130 aircraft. 

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A newspaper in Australia is reporting that a Care Flight helicopter rescued a 22-year-old crew member off a cruise ship off the coast of Arnhem Land.

The helicopter flew to the Celebrity Solstice which was sailing 500 kilometers north east of Darwin, Australia. 

The Celebrity crew member reportedly suffered a "cardiac problem." A nurse and doctor accompanied the helicopter after notification from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

The helicopter was expected to refuel at the remote town of Maningrida before flying  another 100 kilometers km out to sea to reach the cruise ship. Unlike many cruise ships, the Solstice has a helipad on the bow.

The newspaper reports that the Celebrity Solstice left Darwin yesterday on a two-day cruise to Cairns, in north Queensland.

Photo credit: Harrogate Flickr

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A newspaper in Australia reports today that a passenger aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship was airlifted to safety after falling and seriously injuring his head while the cruise ship was sailing off the coast of Australia.

The newspaper states that "paramedics aboard the Westpac rescue helicopter stabilised the 37-year-old after he took a tumble yesterday on the Radiance of the Seas luxury cruise vessel, which had been travelling north about 80km off Coffs Harbour."  Coffs Harbor is on the eastern coast of Australia.

The injured passengers was flown to Coffs Harbor Hospital in a serious but stable condition. 

Over the last year there have been more and more stories about successful medevacs of ill or injured passengers from cruise ships sailing off the coast of Australia.

Photo Credit: Radiance of the Seas -  theaustralian.com.au

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Cruise passengers sailing aboard the Seven Seas Voyager experienced a thrill as their cruise ship assisted in the rescue of three sailors aboard a sailboat off the coast of New Zealand.

According to a newspaper in New Zealand, the cruise ship steamed to the rescue after a ketch called the Sea Wanderer reported engine failure and a loss of navigation systems Sunday evening, when the ketch was 30 kilometers off Marlborough's Clifford Bay.

Passengers described heavy swells and winds of 50 knots. The sailboat was "just completely out of control." 

About 30 to 45 minutes later, a helicopter from the Wellington Coast Guard arrived and eventually winched the men safety. The sailors were described as "cold, wet and tired, but otherwise alright." 

A cruise passenger wrote about the incident in a blog Adventures Down Under. 

Please contact us should you have any photos or video to share.

Photo credit: Fairfax NZ News

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I am being told by a reliable source that the U.S. Coast Guard is about to conduct an emergency medevac of an ill passenger from the Crown Princess cruise ship which is heading to Galveston and will arrive tomorrow.

It is less than clear whether there is any connection to the norovirus outbreak on the cruise ship.  The cruise has been under red level disease alert throughout the crossing from Europe.

The ship is facing heavy swells and the helicopter is facing strong winds.

The last medevac from the Crown Princess was in March.  You can see the video here.

Does anyone have information to confirm this latest story?

December 21, 2012 Update:  There's an update to this story we reported this morning:

The incident involves a 68 year old woman who was suffering from internal bleeding and had to be medevaced by a Coast Guard MH-65 helicopter which flew 140 miles south of the Mississippi River's Southwest Pass to the Princess cruise ship. The Times Picaynue states that the cruise ship alerted the Coast Guard station in New Orleans about 2 AM this morning, reporting that the woman had received blood transfusions on the ship. At the time, the ship was about 200 miles offshore. 

Photo and video credit: U.S. Coast Guard

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There is a nice article in the West Australia newspaper about a elderly cruise passenger who had the misfortune of falling on a cruise ship.    

The article, entitled Love is in the Air Amid Rescue, explains that 88 year-old passenger Ms. Eileen Ewins was traveling with her husband, George Ewins, on Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas as the ship re-positioned to Australia for the next 6 months. She fell as she was exiting her cabin and broke her hip. The ship doctor determined that Ms. Ewins needed to be treated on an emergency basis ashore. 

The accident happened on day 12 of the 14 day cruise.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority contacted an offshore helicopter company, the Bristow Group, which sent a helicopter and team of five staff members to fly to cruise ship off of western Australia. 

The helicopter winched both 88 year-old Ms. Ewins as well as her 89 year old husband up and flew them to the Royal Perth Hospital.

"We do everything together," Mr. Perth told the newspaper. 

This is the fourth medevac of an ill passenger from a cruise ship in the last week, including another elderly passenger medevaced from a cruise ship off of the western coast of Australia.

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The U.S. Coast Guard issued a press release indicating that it medically evacuated a passenger from a cruise ship 50 miles southwest of Point Loma yesterday afternoon.

The Carnival Inspiration cruise ship contacted the Coast Guard yesterday shortly before noon requesting a medevac for a 26 year old man who was experiencing rapid heart rate and possible cardiac complications.

Coast Guard Sector San Diego dispatched an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew to fly to the cruise ship to perform the medevac.

The aircrew hoisted the man and the ship’s nurse to the helicopter and transported them to San Diego, where they transferred the ill man to emergency medical personnel.

This was the third medevac from a cruise ship this weekend.  Previously the Coast Guard rescued a pregnant passenger from the Disney Magic and flew her to a hospital in Galveston, Texas.  And an ill passenger was hoisted by a helicopter, operated by the Australian Navy, from the Sea Princess cruise ship and taken to a hospital in Australia.   

Photo / video credit: U.S. Coast Guard

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A newspaper in Australia reports that an Australian Navy helicopter airlifted a sick elderly passenger from a Princess cruise ship off the coast of Western Australia after a medical emergency today.

The elderly passenger was suffering from acute stomach pains.  In response, the Sea Princess cruise ship contacted the Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Toowoomba which was was training nearby the cruise ship as it sailed north of Cape Naturaliste.

The helicopter airlifted the passenger to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital for treatment.

The Sea Princess continued its cruise and is due to arrive in Adelaide in five days.

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A Coast Guard helicopter medevaced a sick cruise ship passenger suffering from chest pains from the Carnival Glory, which left Norfolk yesterday. According to WAVY, the 52 year old woman, her husband and a nurse were hoisted off the ship and flown to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. 

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Today the Barbados Free Press takes a look at the failure of the captain of the world's largest cruise ship to timely notify the U.S. Coast Guard that a passenger had been spotted going overboard.

Notwithstanding an eyewitness account, the cruise ship intentionally did not follow its own man overboard protocols and delayed 2 hours before finally contacting the Coast Guard in Miami.  Royal Caribbean's conduct is particularly egregious considering that the cruise ship was not in the middle of the Atlantic when the incident.  It had left Fort Lauderdale a few hours earlier and was heading to Nassau, within quick striking range of Coast Guard aircraft, helicopters and cutters.  Here's what the Barbados Free Press (BFP) has to say:

"A few days ago on Sunday September 16, 2012 at about 9:30pm a passenger was seen falling overboard from the world’s largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas.

The Allure of the Seas never called the Coast Guard for assistance in searching until two hours later. By that time it was far too late for the lost passenger.

When BFP’s own pilot Robert heard about the incident, his first comment was surprise that Royal Caribbean built the world’s biggest and most expensive cruise ship – at a cost of some US$1.2 billion dollars – and didn’t include an onboard helicopter and alert flight crew to handle rescue situations and medical emergencies. The initial cost and ongoing expenditure would be nothing in relation to the overall operation, but Royal Caribbean made a decision to exclude the helicopter and instead build more cabins. Similarly Royal Caribbean does not maintain a quick launch rescue boat with a standby ready crew on alert. “Profits over passenger safety” seems to be the Royal Caribbean motto even at the design stage.

The outrageous failure of the Allure of the Seas captain to call for help for a passenger overboard and the failure of planning, design and operations in dealing with passengers overboard is just the latest in an ongoing series of cruise disaster stories."     

Read more here.

Image Credit:  Barbados Free Press

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Just another day (or night) for the Coast Guard.

When a crew member from the Celebrity Summit cruise ship began experiencing severe abdominal cramping,  a Coast Guard station in Elizabeth City, North Carolina launched a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter as well as a HC-130 Hercules aircraft to assist in the medevac. The helicopter had to lower one of its crew members, pick up a nurse from the cruise ship and then hoist the sick cruise employee to fly him to a hospital in Norfolk Virginia.  All of this happened at night, 290 miles out at sea. 

I didn't know that helicopters could fly that far and back.

Video credit: U.S. Coast Guard

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The U.S. Coast Guard has been busy rescuing ill people from cruise ships in the past few days.  Last week Coast Guard helicopters flew over 1,000 miles round trip to save lives.  

Last week started off with the Coast Guard medevacing a 40 year old male crew member from a Celebrity cruise ship approximately 290 miles off the eastern coast of the U.S.  That's a long way to go to rescue a sick person and then return!

The Celebrity Summit notified the Coast Guard, via VHF channel 16, that  one of its crew members was suffering from abdominal pain and was in need of medical attention.  The Coast Guard 5th District duty flight surgeon consulted with the medical officer aboard the cruise ship and recommended a medevac.

Rescue air crews from Elizabeth City, North Carolina launched a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and an HC-130 Hercules aircraft.  With the Hercules crew providing radio and air cover, the Jayhawk hoisted the man and a ship's nurse aboard the helicopter and took them to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.

Later in the week, A 72 year old female passenger was medevaced by a Coast Guard helicopter from the Carnival cruise ship Elation approximately 250 miles south of Mobile Bay in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. The passenger reportedly experienced kidney problems.

The Eighth Coast Guard District command center in New Orleans received a maritime satellite call from the Carnival Elation and launched a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter.  The aircrew transported the sick passenger to Mobile, Alabama where she was treated at Providence Hospital. 

Who pays for these extraordinary services?  Me and you (if your a taxing paying U.S. citizen)  None of the cruise lines pay U.S. taxes on their $35,000,000,000 (billion) in revenue, so the expense of the Coast Guard to rescue people from the foreign flagged cruise ships is borne by all us in the U.S.   

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The U.S. Coast Guard website reports that it medically evacuated a 41-year-old woman from the Carnival Glory cruise ship today.  The passenger reportedly exhibited stroke-like symptoms.

The cruise ship was approximately 55 miles southeast of Nantucket, Massachusetts at the time of the emergency.

Coast Guard Sector Boston received the word from the Carnival cruise ship at approximately 3:35 p.m. In response, Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod launched a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter to the scene. The helicopter hoisted the ill woman up to safety and then transported her to Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, R.I.

The Coast Guard website quotes a John Tomaszewski , a search and rescue coordinator at Sector Boston, "our crews launched swiftly . . . they were able to hoist her and get her the care she needed.

The Coast Guard did not comment on the passenger's medical condition.  

The last medevac from the Carnival Glory occurred, according to our records, in May 2010 when the Coast Guard in Miami rescued that a 36 year-old pregnant woman who needed emergency medical treatment.  

Read about other Coast Guard rescues here. 

Coast Guard medevacs like this are always the highlight of Cruise Law News.  The Coast Guard just celebrated its 222nd birthday! 

Anyone with photos, video or information about this latest Coast Guard rescue, please leave a comment. 

Photo: Space Coast Blogger

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A newspaper in Savannah reports that yesterday the U.S. Coast Guard medevaced a 63 year old woman from a cruise ship sailing in the Atlantic Ocean approximately 60 miles east of Savannah to a local hospital in Savannah. 

Coast Guard Sector Charleston received notification at about around 10:08 p.m. Saturday night from crew members aboard the Carnival Fantasy cruise ship via VHF-FM marine radio channel 16. The cruise ship reported that  that the woman had fallen down some stairs, suffered a laceration on her head, and was in need of medical attention that could not be provided on the ship.

The newspaper states that at approximately 11:14 p.m., the Coast Guard launched an MH-65 Dolphin air rescue crew which arrived on at the cruise ship around 11:40 p.m. The helicopter hoisted the injured woman and a cruise ship nurse from the deck of the cruise ship and transported them to the hospital. 

The newspaper does not mention where the cruise passenger was from.

There have been a number of Coast Guard medevacs from the Carnival Fantasy recently.  On April 24, 2012, the Coast Guard medevaced a 56 year old man from the Fantasy when it was 60 miles southeast of Jacksonville, Florida. A week later, the Coast Guard rescued a 57 year old man from the same ship while it was sailing 160 miles southwest of Marco Island.

Photo credit:  Wikipedia

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The U.S. Coast Guard medevaced a woman from a cruise ship 145 miles south east of Galveston, on Apr. 1, 2012.

The Coast Guard station in Houston-Galveston received a report at approximately 8:08 p.m., that a 44-year old female crew member aboard the cruise ship, Carnival Magic, was having complications with her pregnancy. A MH-65 Dolphin helicopter and rescue crew arrived at the scene at approximately 10 p.m. The rescue crew hoisted the woman off the cruise ship Carnival Magic and transported her to awaiting emergency medical services at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.

To watch other rescue videos and articles, click on "Rescue" under the "Topics" section to the left.

Video Credit:  U.S. Coast Guard video by Petty Officer 3rd Class Richard Brahm.

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A 73 tear old passenger from the Carnival Triumph received a ride of a lifetime when an U.S. Coast Guard helicopter plucked him from the deck of the cruise ship and flew him to Galveston for emergency medical treatment.

The Carnival cruise ship was around 120 miles off the coast of Galveston when the Coast Guard performed the medical evacuations early Friday yesterday morning.

Carnival notified the Coast Guard around 10 PM Thursday night that the cruise passenger had a blood clot in his foot and needed immediate medical treatment.  An MH-65C Dolphin rescue helicopter was dispatched from Coast Guard Air Station Houston around 11:40 PM>  As you can see from the Coast Guard video below, they helicopter crew successfully lifted the passengers from the Triumph cruise ship. He was flown to the University of Texas Medical Center in Galveston.

We have reported on around a dozen Coast Guard - cruise ship medevacs this year.

Video credit:  U.S. Coast Guard via Houston Chronicle

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The LA Times reports that yesterday the U.S. Coast Guard saved the life of a 77 year old cruise passenger from the Carnival Spirit while the cruise ship was 230 miles southwest of San Diego. 

The cruise passenger reportedly showed signs of a stroke and was medically evacuated from the Carnival cruise ship by a U.S. Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter dispatched from San Diego.

The video below shows the helicopter lifting someone who appears to be a nurse, then the ill passenger, and finally a member of the helicopter crew.

Thank God that ill passengers have the benefit of skilled and dedicated men and women of our country's Coast Guard to help them out in tight spots like this:    

Video credit:

U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Diego; produced by PADET San Diego: and edited by Petty Officer 2nd Class Henry G. Dunphy

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BBC News is reporting today on the dramatic rescue of a critically ill passenger from Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas.

The U.K. Coast Guard was notified by the captain of the Independence of the Seas on Saturday night that a passenger was very ill and needed to be evacuated from the cruise ship.  A helicopter was dispatched from Portland, which is in southern England on the Dorset coast, 23 miles out to the cruise ship.  

The BBC reports that the helicopter was too heavy for the cruise ship's landing pad.  The vessel's crew had to lift the passenger, in her wheelchair, up and into the helicopter as it hovering above them. 

A Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokeswoman is quoted stating "in a supreme example of skill, the coastguard helicopter pilot touched the wheels of the aircraft on to the moving deck of the Independence of the Seas, keeping the rotors powered-up so that no weight was taken by the relatively fragile landing pad."

The helicopter then flew the ill woman and her husband to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester.

The BBC did not comment on the nature of the cruise passenger's critical illness.

We have received comments from crew and passengers that the Independence of the Seas has been experiencing Norovirus outbreaks for much of this year, although it is unknown what ailed this particular passenger.

The Independence of the Seas was last in the news when an oil tanker exploded while the cruise ship was docked at the port in Gibraltar.   

Photo credit:  Petty Officer 2nd Class Richard Fertig via Defense Video and Imagery Distribution System (image is of U.S. Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter responding to a medical emergency aboard the Explorer of the Seas 230 miles east of Cape Henry Virginia on March 11, 2011.) 

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WVEC (local ABC channel 13) reports that the Coast Guard airlifted an ill  60 year old passenger from a cruise ship off the coast of North Carolina yesterday. 

The passenger was sailing on Carnival's Miracle when he had a heart attack.

The Coast Guard sent a MH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter from Air Station Elizabeth City to medevac the man from the Carnival cruise ship, which was about 43 miles off the North Carolina coast.  The passenger was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

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The U.S. Coast Guard evacuated a 46 year old passenger from a cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico following a fall on Saturday.

Passenger Andrew Spicer was aboard Holland America Line's Ryndam cruise ship when he was reportedly injured.  The cruise  was roughly 120 miles southwest of St. Petersburg when the Coast Guard helicopter arrived around 8:00 p.m.  Mr. Spicer was taken to Tampa General hospital.

On Friday, a  Coast Guard rescue helicopter crew medevaced a 16 month old  girl and her mother off the Norwegian Gem cruise ship approximately 245 miles south of Cape Lookout, North Carolina.  The infant was suffering from upper respiratory tract infection and respiratory distress.

Our U.S. Coast Guard serves an important function of transporting sick and injured passengers to emergency medical facilities ashore.  Earlier in the week we discussed the medical and legal implications of cruise medevacs in U.S. Coast Guard Rescues Sick Teenager from NCL's Jewel.

Where you on any of these cruises?  Do you have photos or video to share?  Please leave a comment  .  .  .

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The United States Coast Guard crews medevaced an ill thirteen year old from the Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) Jewel cruise ship near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina on Saturday. 

The boy had symptoms of acute appendicitis.  The Coast Guard lifted the boy and his mother from the deck of the Jewel and flew them to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.

This is the type of story which we have reported on frequently.  Medical rescues like this are a regular occurrence when there is a medical emergency and the cruise ships are within the range of Coast Guard helicopters.  As I have said many times, a cruise ship is one of the last places on earth you want to be if you have a serious medical issue. 

One of the most infamous involving appendicitis aboard a cruise ship is Carnival v. Carlyle.  A family from Michigan sailed on Carnival's Ecstasy when 14 year old Elizabeth felt ill with abdominal pain.  The family took their daughter to the ship infirmary.  The  foreign trained doctor repeatedly told the family that the child had only the flu.  When the family returned home, a qualified doctor diagnosed a ruptured appendix and infection, but due to the delayed diagnosis and treatment the young girl was rendered sterile.

Carnival defended the case by claiming that it was not responsible for the malpractice of "independent contractors."  The cruise line and the cruise industry fought the case for a decade and finally won before the U.S. Supreme Court.  The bottom line?  The family went on a family cruise vacation and their daughter returned home sterile due to the gross negligence of the Carnival ship doctor.  After ten years of litigation, the young girl received nothing.    

So when I see a helicopters picking up a sick kid off of a cruise ship, I know that one parent's prayers have been answered.  They will not have to suffer like the Carlyle family from Michigan.

So, thanks to the the U.S. Coast Guard!

The medevac was filmed by a passenger, Allan, aboard the Jewel:

Credit:   CNN iReport

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Medivac defintion: "Air transport of persons to a place where they can receive medical or surgical care; medical evacuation."

"Medivac" is a word that you hope the cruise ship doctor has heard before if you become seriously ill or injured during a cruise.  As I have mentioned in prior blogs, a cruise ship is the last place you want to be if you have a life threatening situation with your health.  Elderly passengers are particularly vulnerable when they have to rely on the medical skill and experience of ship doctor trained outside of the U.S.   

Over one-half of the passengers who seek medical treatment during cruises are over age 65.  Many passengers have pre-existing medical conditions including heart conditions.  Elderly passengers are at risk for complications on cruise ships with noro-virus and are then at the mercy of the ship doctors. 

Luckily for passengers on cruise ships near U.S. ports, the U.S. Coast Guard can come to the rescue.  U.S. citizens don't appreciate just how fortunate they are when a U.S. Coast helicopter arrives on the scene and saves the day.  Sometimes we hear of the Canadian Coast Guard rescuing Americans, like here.

Here we have a Coast Guard helicopter from Air Station Astoria pulling an injured passenger from the deck of the Volendam cruise ship operated by Holland American Line. 

The passenger apparently sustained head and back injuries in a fall as the cruise ship was headed from Seattle to Hawaii.  Luckily for him, the ship was still a hundred miles from Oregon. Thanks to the Coast Guard, the cruise passenger was taken to Oregon Health and Science University in Portland for medical treatment.

Credit:

Video - U.S. Coast Guard (via NWCN.com / Washington News)
  

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This was a busy weekend for the U.S. Coast Guard.

Last night around 7:15 p.m., the Carnival Glory cruise ship notified the Coast Guard in Miami that a 36 year-old pregnant woman needed emergency medical treatment.  The Carnival Glory departed the Port of Miami at 4 p.m. Sunday and was en route to the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Coast Guard sent an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter to the ship and safely hoisted the woman at about 8:30 p.m. (video below), and transferred her to Broward General Hospital.

On Saturday, the Carnival Inspiration cruise ship notified the Coast Guard around 3:00 a.m. that a  63-year-old cruise ship passenger with internal bleeding needed evacuation.  The ship was about 115 miles west of Marco Island. The Coast Guard helicopter arrived and took the passenger to Tampa General Hospital around 8:00 a.m. 

Later Saturday night, the Norwegian Jewel reported that a a 42-year-old man with acute appendicitis needed to go to a hospital.  The cruise ship was 20 miles east of Atlantic City Saturday.  A Coast Guard helicopter transported the passenger to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City for treatment.

A cruise ship is not the place you want to be if you are critically ill.  The U.S. Coast Guard does a fantastic job performing medical evacuations of cruise passengers and searching for passengers and crew when they go overboard. 

Credits:

Photograph           United States Coast Guard

Video            United States Coast Guard via Palm Beach Post

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