Woman Medivacted from Breakway Dec. 6

[lescas]

Below is the link to the article/video, I was told from a friend at home it was on the news. Lets hope she is doing fine.

 

http://coastguardnews.com/coast-guard-medevacs-woman-from-cruise-ship-norwegian-breakaway-50-miles-off-nc-coast/2014/12/06/

[lilly_and_hunter]

Oh my gosh! That's terrifying. I hope she's okay.

 

 

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[Trevor Fountain]

Must be fairly common for people to be evacuated from cruise ships nowadays. With upwards of 4000 passengers and crew, medical emergencies requiring land based treatment are certain to occur. It's another reminder why insurance that covers this eventuality is a must.

Hope the poor woman is soon on the mend.

[SuiteTraveler]

We asked about heli-med-evac on Allure of the Seas a few weeks ago. We were told it happens about twice a year on that ship.

 

When we were on the Celebrity Eclipse, there was a heli-med-evac on the last night of our cruise - simultaneously with an unrelated man overboard.

[FreestyleNovice]

Below is the link to the article/video, I was told from a friend at home it was on the news. Lets hope she is doing fine.

 

http://coastguardnews.com/coast-guard-medevacs-woman-from-cruise-ship-norwegian-breakaway-50-miles-off-nc-coast/2014/12/06/

 

Reminds me of last year's december, also a medevac from Breakaway by the same USCG station.

 

http://coastguardnews.com/tag/cruise-ship-norwegian-breakaway/

[monkeybone]

Poor lady, that looks so scary. Hope she's doing well.

[cantthinkofanythingfun]

I am amazed that with the size of these ships that they can't land a chopper on the ship. I wouldn't want to be winched up in a chopper like I just barreled back to earth in a space capsule. I can't imagine how frightening that must have been for this woman.

[roger001]

I am amazed that with the size of these ships that they can't land a chopper on the ship. I wouldn't want to be winched up in a chopper like I just barreled back to earth in a space capsule. I can't imagine how frightening that must have been for this woman.

 

I've seen a few with landing pads. However, I imagine the ships' structure for most of the ships isn't reinforced enough otherwise to support the weight of a helo. The weight is all concentrated in the few footprints of however many wheels the helo rests on.

[meatball_nyc]

The ships can't hold the weight of the helicopter.

That is a scary video. I hope the woman is feeling better :eek:

 

 

 

~Robin

Every Day at Sea is a Great Day

2014 July Breakaway

[Buford T Justiice]

It's another reminder why insurance that covers this eventuality is a must.

Hope the poor woman is soon on the mend.

 

I believe the Coast Guard is expressly prohibited by statute (Title 46 US Code, sec. 2110) from charging a fee for any search and rescue service. 2110(a)(5) provides: The Secretary may not collect a fee or charge under this subsection for any search or rescue service.

Edited December 8, 2014 by Buford T Justiice

[fuggles]

I was on the Gem last February when the Coast Guard had to med evac someone. It was also off of NC.

 

 

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[Demonyte]

I've seen a few with landing pads. However, I imagine the ships' structure for most of the ships isn't reinforced enough otherwise to support the weight of a helo. The weight is all concentrated in the few footprints of however many wheels the helo rests on.

 

 

The ships can't hold the weight of the helicopter.

 

 

That is just nonsense - the structure of the ship could hold tons of point load easily, If the ship was as weak as you say, the decks would literally warp and wobble during storms etc.

 

If it was solely because of the weight, the helicopter could just land so that the wheels barely touch the deck but the actual weight is carried still by the rotor but the loading is still a lot easier and safer than winching the patient up - that is how they operate on SAR missions in archipelagos where there are small islands that do not have enough footing to land properly without the risk of the chopper tipping over to the sea -- been there, seen that.

 

On most cruise ships the problem is with the cruise line's desire to have as much public spaces available as possible and therefore there are a lot of cables (those pretty flags and lights hanging above top decks) etc making it nearly impossible to use the helipads without advance preparations (this is the case f.ex. with Jewel class ships where they'd need to disassemble the basketball court to make room). On Breakaway class ships there is a helipad in the very fwd of the ship but even there is a cable for lights and flags preventing the use of the helipad without first taking it down.

 

Besides the obstacles mentioned, another reason for not actually landing on ships unless absolutely necessary is that the ship can move up and down a lot even if that isn't that obivious while onboard. Upside is that medevacs do not always happen while rough seas, but still.

[Mikkar]

We were on this cruise and we watched it on the "view from the bridge" channel on the TV. They closed off a lot of the areas of the ship near the bow leading up to and during the evacuation and the captain made a few announcements to update everyone on the progress. I can't imagine how frightened this woman must have been. They also lifted another person off the ship in one of those baskets like they used after Katrina to rescue people from the roofs. I'm not sure if it was a companion or a medical person to accompany the patient. I hope she is doing better.

[Cliodhna112]

We were on the getaway last week the 29/11 sailing and there was some one medivacted the first night...

[CasinoCruzGirl]

We were on this cruise and we watched it on the "view from the bridge" channel on the TV. They closed off a lot of the areas of the ship near the bow leading up to and during the evacuation and the captain made a few announcements to update everyone on the progress. I can't imagine how frightened this woman must have been. They also lifted another person off the ship in one of those baskets like they used after Katrina to rescue people from the roofs. I'm not sure if it was a companion or a medical person to accompany the patient. I hope she is doing better.

 

I was on it to. Heard it was internal stomach pain maybe appendicitis? Had to be really serious because we were due into NYC pier at 6 am just over 12 hours.

[NYNC]

It is much safer for the patient and the flight crew to do a hoist. Trying to land a helicopter on flat ground, with cables and wires that are basically invisible to the pilot until they are too close to them, can be challenging but on a moving ship with tight confines is incredibly hazardous. That's not to say that the pilot can't do it, it's just safer for everyone involved not to.

[Squidward Q Tentacles]

It is a lot safer to winch a patient up than to actually land a helo on a ship and then take off again. I have landed several times on a ship that has a flight deck designed for that and I will say it is pretty tricky. The pilot needs to almost be dancing with the ship to get in sync with the movements it makes and then set down perfectly.

 

Winching off a ship is much safer and faster. If I ever need to be taken off a ship I will be glad to see that basket coming down for me!

[L-in-CLT]

It is a lot safer to winch a patient up than to actually land a helo on a ship and then take off again. I have landed several times on a ship that has a flight deck designed for that and I will say it is pretty tricky. The pilot needs to almost be dancing with the ship to get in sync with the movements it makes and then set down perfectly.

 

 

 

Winching off a ship is much safer and faster. If I ever need to be taken off a ship I will be glad to see that basket coming down for me!

 

 

Yep! I was in a Sikorsky s-76 and we landed at night on an oil tanker off Galveston. The pilots were on edge, the Captain on the ship was as well - it's a tricky maneuver during the day let alone at night. I would be glad to see that basket too!

[HokiePoq]

We saw that video on our local news from Norfolk. Wow...I'd have had a heart attack being hoisted off. Kudos to the Coast Guard for the great job.

Last winter on the Star we had two evacs. One was while we were in the locks at the Panama Canal when an ambulance met the ship as it went by ground level. The other involved a boat coming out from Acapulco taking someone to shore.

Pretty common and yes, we have insurance on our next cruises.

[Aquahound]

I believe the Coast Guard is expressly prohibited by statute (Title 46 US Code, sec. 2110) from charging a fee for any search and rescue service. 2110(a)(5) provides: The Secretary may not collect a fee or charge under this subsection for any search or rescue service.

 

You are correct. The USCG does not charge for medivacs.

 

The ships can't hold the weight of the helicopter.

 

This is not correct at all. They can hold a helo just fine. But like squidward said, it is the perogative of the pilot whether or not to land and in most cases, it is much safer to stay airborne.

 

22 years USCG myself. ;)

[warriorking]

Happened on my Med cruise back in 2010, had a crew member transported off in the middle of the night by helicopter...

Captain informed us the next morning over the PA....

[SuiteTraveler]

The Heli Med Evac we witnessed on the Celebrity Eclipse - the helicopter did indeed land on the deck. They had taken down the railings up there and there were firemen in full gear at the ready should there be an accident and somehow a fire was started. We were able to see all of this through the forward facing window of our Family Verandah. That said, I am certain that it is incredibly dangerous to land a helicopter on a moving ship. That particular cruise (Med from Southampton) we saw the largest number of ambulances ever at every single port taking elderly infirm passengers off the ship. We also saw an elderly lady collapse at dinner. Honestly, some of those onboard probably should not have been on a cruise ship at all due to the precarious nature of their health. Then the Heli Med Evac at approximately 10pm the last night of the ship while we were in the English Channel followed immediately by a several hour sea search for the person who had jumped overboard until the ship was joined by the French Coast Guard. Both of these things were at once tragic and also interesting to observe. I never heard if the patient taken off from helicopter survived, but I do know that the person who went overboard was never recovered.

 

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/9041319.Crew_member_missing_presumed_dead_after_going_overboard_on_cruise_ship/

 

This shows the area of the search:

http://my.pinkfroot.com/profiles/blogs/man-overboard-celebrity

[Laszlo]

99% of recoveries from any ship, cruise, fighter, fishing etc... are preformed by basket and winch. Their is just not the need to put a helicopter down in the deck, its much safer flying 100-150ft above the ship.

 

I have two friends in the CG, both land and sea and neither of them are aware of a single case where a CG helo landed on a cruise ship. One friend said he was aware of one landing on a supertanker.....once

[Aquahound]

I have two friends in the CG, both land and sea and neither of them are aware of a single case where a CG helo landed on a cruise ship. One friend said he was aware of one landing on a supertanker.....once

 

I'm aware of several cases where the CG actually set down on deck, but hovering is much more common.

[PhotoPete]

Back in March 2012 while on Carnival Liberty a crew member was sick and the Coast Gard came to his rescue. Having been dropped on the back of a moving destroyer by a helo it is a very intense experience. The trip back up a couple of days later was just as fun. Hope the lady is OK.