Okay picture this.

[Jeffrey1950]

Here I am planning a Transatlantic crossing for next year all is well so far with my plans then I have a sudden thought more likely dread. I was on a cruise these pass 8 days from New York to The Bahamas after leaving Freeport and into our sailing time three hours later we had to return to Freeport as a passenger needed care at a Hospital now I thought supposing you take very ill half way across the Atlantic then what? I know they have a Medical Time but just how prepared are they for more serious matters . Please, tell me they are prepared !!!

[Salacia]

Here I am planning a Transatlantic crossing for next year all is well so far with my plans then I have a sudden thought more likely dread. I was on a cruise these pass 8 days from New York to The Bahamas after leaving Freeport and into our sailing time three hours later we had to return to Freeport as a passenger needed care at a Hospital now I thought supposing you take very ill half way across the Atlantic then what? I know they have a Medical Time but just how prepared are they for more serious matters . Please, tell me they are prepared !!!

 

Yikes, Jeffrey, you're just thinking about this now? OK...well, this is what I have read: QM2 has the best equipped medical centre of any 'cruise ship' crossing the Atlantic. Read up on that and see if you agree.

 

Oh, and by the way, as passengers, maybe it would be helpful if we had a check-up before our vacation just to make sure the old bod is sea worthy :)

Edited September 7, 2015 by Salacia

[tv24]

Yikes is right! I suppose if you are seriously worried, buy some insurance that provides for a medical evacuation, even if you are mid-Atlantic!

[pepperrn]

Here I am planning a Transatlantic crossing for next year all is well so far with my plans then I have a sudden thought more likely dread. I was on a cruise these pass 8 days from New York to The Bahamas after leaving Freeport and into our sailing time three hours later we had to return to Freeport as a passenger needed care at a Hospital now I thought supposing you take very ill half way across the Atlantic then what? I know they have a Medical Time but just how prepared are they for more serious matters . Please, tell me they are prepared !!!

Hi Jeffrey1950,

 

I took part in a "Behind the Scenes" tour of QM2 in Dec '13. One of the places visited was the Medical Centre where we were not only shown the facilities available, but also encouraged to ask questions of the medical staff & officers.

One of the group asked exactly the question you raise. We were told that the Medical Centre is equipped, and staff are trained, to deal with almost any medical emergency that can arise "short of organ transplant" (said in a humorous tone).

In the very rare event of something truly awful happening, whilst beyond the reach of helicopters, that could require land-based specialists, they can do a lot more than simply make the person comfortable whilst they wait to be within range. It was pointed out that, unlike the old days when they were truly on their own, they are never out of touch with shore-based specialist experts, via video if needed. But something that serious happening would be incredibly rare.

 

I have no worries or concerns at all about the facilities and training available on board QM2, having seen the Medical Centre and listened to the staff there. The QM2 has one of the very best medical centres afloat (and designed to be so) with the highest trained staff.

 

I have to agree with Salacia, a quick check-up before our crossing would do none of us any harm.

 

Hope this helps. Have a wonderful crossing on the world's greatest ocean liner :)

Edited September 7, 2015 by pepperrn

[balf]

A quick check up might be reassuring but would be no guarantee against all sorts of medical problems. I'm not sure how much the ship doctor would be capably of re surgery, even with help from shore side.

 

Not something that bothers me personally.

 

David.

[LondonTowner]

I know emergencies can happen to anyone at anytime, but it is a very negative attitude to have even before booking the cruise.

[Keith1010]

They are very prepared for medical emergencies at sea and remember it's not like Cunard just went into business and this is their first crossing ever.

 

Keith

[kendon]

I think it's a very good question, one I had myself...not a negative one at all. Great idea to have a check up prior to leaving especially if you have any health issues. I had to use the medical center last month for something minor...they were adequate. I thought the Princess med center was MUCH better.

[Jeffrey1950]

I agree with you I knew someone who had a check up and was told they were perfectly healthy they were dead six weeks later. I guess the best thing is to put it out of my mind after all I could walk outside and get hit by a car. My Daughter in-law had a friend who was killed a few months ago with her two of her children when a plane flew into her house. It was all over the news at the time so even in your own home something can happen. I just wondered for instance Appendicitis or heat attack things like that.

[Jeffrey1950]

Only because I just saw this happen on the cruise that I had just gotten off of yesterday. We had just left a port that we had visited and was at the start of our two seas at sea back to New York when after three hours of sailing we had to return to that port for a passenger to be transported to hospital. It kinda makes you think !!!

[david,Mississauga]

... I just wondered for instance Appendicitis or heat attack things like that.

 

The QM2 does not have an operating theatre. The possibility of appendicitis is of concern should it strike mid-Atlantic beyond the range of a helicopter. A few decades ago my appendix ruptured at home and even though the nearest hospital was only three miles away I nearly died from it. Prior to that I had made several Atlantic crossings and one long voyage from South Africa to England. All of those ships had an operating theatre so it wasn't something that concerned me.

 

Many years ago the chief medical officer of the QE2, Dr. Nigel Roberts, gave a talk about his experiences. He also had published a fascinating book entitled C-Six. Dr. Roberts told us that surgeries are rare at sea, but the most common life-saving operation was an appendectomy. Perhaps modern medical treatment can stabilise a patient until the ship is within helicopter-range. A ruptured appendix must be removed and the patient treated promptly otherwise death is certain (so said my surgeon.)

[balf]

One of the first appendix operations was on King Edward V11 in 1902, when an operating theatre was set up in Buckingham Palace. So I would be concerned more with having a doctor on board who could do the operation, than a operating theatre.

 

David.

[edwardh1]

Yikes Caribbean looking better.

[jimmybean]

Life is full of risks. Best to calculate them in advance.

 

It is difficult to predict risk without knowing if any specific medical conditions exist. Your doctor would be the best person to advise you.

 

Always buy trip insurance! Health problems can also arise before you sail!

[Q-step]

In college I knew someone who had their ruptured appendix removed by an O/R nurse in an emergency operation. It was during a major blizzard and no doctor could have got to him in time. 40+ years later and he's still doing fine.

 

The QM2 should be able to handle most emergencies and, if not, they do have an on-board morgue.

[Underwatr]

I'm sure that will make Jeffrey feel better. :)

[david,Mississauga]

One of the first appendix operations was on King Edward V11 in 1902, when an operating theatre was set up in Buckingham Palace. So I would be concerned more with having a doctor on board who could do the operation, than a operating theatre.

 

David.

 

Perhaps an operating theatre isn't essential. I suppose an operation could be performed on a dining room table and a chef could lend a butcher knife (hopefully sterilised) to the doctor.:)

 

According to this article, a room can be converted for surgery, but they will not do an appendectomy.

 

http://www.beyondships2.com/queen-mary-2-medical.html

Edited September 8, 2015 by david,Mississauga

[janecambridge]

Glad my appendix is out already then!

But seriously it is the same 'scenario' for all sorts of holidays,trekking,safaris,wilderness wild animal watching etc etc. So it is important to have a good list of all your medication available should you take ill,your allergies noted and fill in the medical form accurately.

 

At least there is more chance of a surgeon being on board then in the jungle!

They also have defibrillators unlike many aircraft!

You can only do what you have to do...enjoy and be reassured..!

[Chunky2219]

In late March I had a bit of earache. The next morning I woke up feeling fine. By 9am I was vomiting, 10am incoherent and before lunchtime I was in intensive care, intubated, sedated and in a bad way. It was touch and go for over a week and not much fun after they woke me up. I got the finest medical care you can get anywhere in the world. God bless the NHS. Apparently, the young adult in the next room wasn't as lucky as me, which gave my family even more of a shock on top of my own situation.

 

Once I eventually started to remember things and the medics were questioning me to make sure there was no brain damage, I was struck by the fact that exactly two years to the day before my admission I was on a cruise ship in the middle of the Tasman sea after a terrific cruise around New Zealand. Most likely, I reasoned, had it happened then I would have been disembarking at Sydney in a tin box via a side door.

 

I confess that it's given me pause for thought and until I got the final all clear (still haven't, hopefully at an appointment late October) I was seriously considering switching our November QV voyage. One concern was insurance, which didn't turn out to be any problem at all. So only my anxiety could be an obstacle to another Cunard experience. But on reflection, life's too short and it would be a terrible shame to plan on what might, just happen instead of all there is to enjoy. I can't offer advice for the OPs personal circumstances, other than not to give a hoot about it once on board ship. You trust them with your life in so many ways while at sea anyway.

 

 

 

.

Edited September 8, 2015 by Chunky2219
typo

[DDBINK1]

First thought, how many people have travelled between Europe and the USA via ship and survived without emergency surgery. Odds are you will survive.

 

Second thought, or rather memory. I have been an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner for decades. I have a keen interest in the medical facilities on the ships I travel on for vacation and make it a point to find the medical staff on board and have talks with them and I have toured the medical facilities on 6 ships. I found the Cunard Medical Facilities top rate. High quality equipment and in discussions with the nurses and the physicians, I found them well prepared for any emergency including surgery. One of the physicians I met on my second QM2 voyage was a general surgeon trained at Columbia and with specialty training at Johns Hopkins University. And he was on board serving as the ships MD. He told me the ship could handle any emergency and I believed him.

 

Third thought. GO ON YOUR TRIP and have a FANTASTIC TIME. I think you are better on a Cunard Ship crossing the Atlantic than any ship in the Caribbean because a medical emergency there would put you on an Island in a Third World Hospital. Not putting anyone or place down. But in the Caribbean the first thing a ship will do is put you on the nearest land based facility and off into the sunset the ship will go.