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Video of the Helicopter rescue on Liberty of the Seas 6Dec2012

reedl

By reedl,
in Royal Caribbean International

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reedl

reedl

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I was on the cruies and heard that the doctor did not clear her to sail. Recuperation is 6 weeks.

 

That is probably true. Perhaps she was so eager to go on the cruise she ignored medical advice. It happens all the times with people. They think they know better. But it was a woman for sure. That is not in dispute. I do not know where PH8 got his information, but his sources are inaccurate.

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reedl

reedl

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That medivac has to be very, very expensive.

 

Anyone know how much this would cost--if not covered by insurance?

 

Dawn

 

It was told to me by a senior member of the staff that RCCL pays for the medivac. I guess that it keeps a good public image to actually rescue a person rather than let them die without trying to save their life. Since it is the Coast Guard, perhaps part of the cost is offset by the government. I honestly do not know.

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Gator83

Gator83

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I was in my forward facing cabin when the helicopter rescued the customer who was very sick. Here is the full video of the diver repelling from the copter, the other people being raised into the copter, the patient, and finally the diver.

 

My hats go off to the Coast Guard. They are amazing people who train for this every day. To see it go off exactly as it should makes me proud.

 

The video is 14 minutes long and contains the entire event.

 

 

 

 

Great video! Thank you

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alfaeric

alfaeric

Posted
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That is probably true. Perhaps she was so eager to go on the cruise she ignored medical advice. It happens all the times with people. They think they know better. But it was a woman for sure. That is not in dispute. I do not know where PH8 got his information, but his sources are inaccurate.

 

Well, it seems as if there has been a rash of evacuations very recently- this one was the second air evacuation in 3 cruises- and including the sea evacuation on Nov 29, that's 3 in three. (we were also on the Nov 29 cruise, and the first night was interrupted by a captain annoucement sometime in the middle of the night, when we did the transfer that first night)

 

With all that has been going on, I think it's quite understandable that peolpe are getting events mixed up right now.

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Aquahound

Aquahound

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It was told to me by a senior member of the staff that RCCL pays for the medivac. I guess that it keeps a good public image to actually rescue a person rather than let them die without trying to save their life. Since it is the Coast Guard, perhaps part of the cost is offset by the government. I honestly do not know.

 

Negative. USCG does not charge for rescues.

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reedl

reedl

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Negative. USCG does not charge for rescues.

 

Whether or not they charge, the men and woman of the USCG certainly are to be commended for the work they do. I have to give credit to all of the USCG staff for the incredible job that they did in this case.

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Arizona Cruz Chic

Arizona Cruz Chic

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Great video.

TY USCG as always their service is the best in the world.

 

My husband was recently taken off ship by ambulance, very organized and professional, it was nothing compared to an at sea rescue.

 

This was the first time I've seen/heard of family members also allowed in the helicopter, usually not enough room except for the crew and patient. Maybe this one was an exception because of the location (Haiti).

 

***

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reedl

reedl

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Celebrity Constellation helicopter rescue

 

 

I have no idea why the poster of that video decided that loud music playing during the video was appropriate. In an event like these, the sounds of the copter are much more important.

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Theween

Theween

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1st time poster here....thought this would be the perfect opportunity :).

 

I was onboard and saw all of this take place. Around 9ish, 5 hours out of Labadee, the captain came over the loadspeaker and kindly asked that if anyone on board had A negative blood with a donor card, would they please come to the infirmary as there was a critically ill patient in need of a blood transfusion. Around 10:30 or so the captain announced that we had turned back towards Haiti to meet a Coast Guard chopper from Turks and Caicos. It would take until 1 am to meet the chopper. I believe around 12:15 or 12:30 the chopper arrived and it took about 45 minutes to conduct the operation. You can't tell from that video due to the editing, but the chopper backed off to the port side 5-6 times between drop off and pickups and the extreme winds.

 

When I got back to my cabin and turned on the tv, I noticed we had turned north instead of back to the east to head to Falmouth, Jamaica. At that point I new we were not going to Jamaica at all. The captain came on in the morning to advise that if we had turned back towards Jamaica, we would have arrived at 1 pm and would have to leave at 3:30 pm to make it back to Port Everglades on time.

 

Basically we were off the ship for 6 hours on a 5 day cruise. I'm glad that she is going to be ok, but she certainly didn't do 4000 people any favors by totally and blatently disregarding her doctors orders. I know there were several people that had saved up for a long time to take that vacation and had wanted to see family in Jamaica. She not only didn't wait six weeks to travel, she rode the giant zip line on top of the travel.

 

In addition to that, she put several lives at risk from the coast guard. That was not an easy rescue at all. She also cost the cruise line probably a few hundred thousand or more in lost revenue due to the cancelled excursions.

 

Now that I have that out of my system......Glad to have gotten my first post in :D

 

(Don't know how to put those past cruise icons on here, so I'll just type 'em out!)

 

RCCL Song of Norway March 1986

Carnival Fantasy March 1994

NCL SS Norway June 1996

RCCL Majesty of the Seas September 2002

RCCL Explorer of the Seas April 2006

Carnival Fantasy December 2006

RCCL Monarch of the Seas December 2008

RCCL Mariner of the Seas December 2009

Carnival Triumph September 2010

RCCL Oasis of the Seas January 2012

RCCL Liberty of the Seas December 2012

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edjny

edjny

Posted
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Just a word of advice to the first time poster.... Before blaming the woman who was evacuated for the problem, you should check your facts. She made a post on the other thread about this incident to tell us that she had medical clearance and did not ride the zip ride as so many people not having any knowledge have claimed. Here is the post where she made her response.

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suntan

suntan

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What an amazing video accounting the great work done by the men and women of the U.S.C.G. It must have been a scary experience for the ill passenger and their family going up in that stretcher and basket. I hope that the passenger is recovering. You did an excellent job recording this event - thank you for posting it. Also, let's not forget the great work done by the medical team onboard the Liberty.

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LuckiStac13*Majesty*

LuckiStac13*Majesty*

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1st time poster here....thought this would be the perfect opportunity :).

 

I was onboard and saw all of this take place. Around 9ish, 5 hours out of Labadee, the captain came over the loadspeaker and kindly asked that if anyone on board had A negative blood with a donor card, would they please come to the infirmary as there was a critically ill patient in need of a blood transfusion. Around 10:30 or so the captain announced that we had turned back towards Haiti to meet a Coast Guard chopper from Turks and Caicos. It would take until 1 am to meet the chopper. I believe around 12:15 or 12:30 the chopper arrived and it took about 45 minutes to conduct the operation. You can't tell from that video due to the editing, but the chopper backed off to the port side 5-6 times between drop off and pickups and the extreme winds.

 

When I got back to my cabin and turned on the tv, I noticed we had turned north instead of back to the east to head to Falmouth, Jamaica. At that point I new we were not going to Jamaica at all. The captain came on in the morning to advise that if we had turned back towards Jamaica, we would have arrived at 1 pm and would have to leave at 3:30 pm to make it back to Port Everglades on time.

 

Basically we were off the ship for 6 hours on a 5 day cruise. I'm glad that she is going to be ok, but she certainly didn't do 4000 people any favors by totally and blatently disregarding her doctors orders. I know there were several people that had saved up for a long time to take that vacation and had wanted to see family in Jamaica. She not only didn't wait six weeks to travel, she rode the giant zip line on top of the travel.

 

In addition to that, she put several lives at risk from the coast guard. That was not an easy rescue at all. She also cost the cruise line probably a few hundred thousand or more in lost revenue due to the cancelled excursions.

 

Now that I have that out of my system......Glad to have gotten my first post in :D

 

(Don't know how to put those past cruise icons on here, so I'll just type 'em out!)

 

RCCL Song of Norway March 1986

Carnival Fantasy March 1994

NCL SS Norway June 1996

RCCL Majesty of the Seas September 2002

RCCL Explorer of the Seas April 2006

Carnival Fantasy December 2006

RCCL Monarch of the Seas December 2008

RCCL Mariner of the Seas December 2009

Carnival Triumph September 2010

RCCL Oasis of the Seas January 2012

RCCL Liberty of the Seas December 2012

 

I think it's terrible and unkind of you to come on here and blast someone who had to go through a very traumatic experience like that, while not having all the facts. Not sure where you get all your info from, but if I were you I would check your facts again before you berate someone on a public message board.

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Theween

Theween

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In response to all that has come out since my posting, I will make an apology to justforkicks as y'all are right in that some of my comments were based on hearsay and not known facts. There were rumors going around from a woman that had gall bladder surgery to a child that got hurt on the island and started losing blood on the toilet. I didn't post until I had the same story over and over about a hysterectomy 2 weeks prior and then riding a zip line. Seemed a little far fetched but when you get so many together in one place, someone is bound to do something stupid. Therefore it certainly seemed plausible. IF the facts were two weeks post hysterectomy, AND someone did ride a zip line, or did any such excursion, I would absolutely stand behind my comments.

 

It seems I got caught up in the mob mentality this time and let my emotions get the best of me. Two cruises ago, a woman with a known seizure disorder, went on a snorkeling excursion in the Keys and had a seizure in the water after 10-15 minutes and we were not near any shore. We all had to get out and go in. Ruined it for all 50-75 people because she and her boyfriend were selfish. It was her second seizure of the cruise and she had no business going in the water. Our day was completely shot and our money of course was lost.

 

I will also reiterate what I said before that I am glad, very glad that she is home safe and sound. I would never wish her or anyone else harm whether she had an accident or she caused her own problem. My wife and I are both medically trained and always jump in to help others when in trouble. For those who were in the spa the first day during their giveaway, we were the ones who jumped in when the young lady had a grandmal seizure in front of everyone.

 

Justforkicks, please accept my apology. I didn't see your post or anything to contradict what I had though to be fact before I posted. I will certainly understand if you don't, but all I can do is ask. I wish you a speedy recovery.

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alfaeric

alfaeric

Posted
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Theween- so you know, there's an edit button on each of these posts. you can edit out the parts of the message that was incorrect.

 

It only works for your posts.

 

But you illustrate why some posters did not post any of the rumors, and was just left with the facts via the captain- he asked and thanked blood donors, "She" was lifted off successfully, but with diffuculty, and "she" was in surgury- that's all that I knew with any certainty about what happened.

 

Other than that, wild rumors. Heck, considering that we were on a special cruise with amputees, I'm almost surprised that nobody speculated on that.....

 

The sad part is that people seem to WANT to belive the rumors to confirm their opinions of people in general.

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