Medical services on River Cruises

[Trulee Scrumptious]

Hello - first post on this board, from a little naive river cruiser (never done one before, and only a couple of others under my belt). Last year I had two out of hospital cardiac arrests, CPR both times and now have an internal pacemaker/defibrillator fitted. I am a little cautious of booking another 'ocean' cruise at the moment, even though I know they have medical staff on board. I think I would feel 'safer' first time back on the water on a river cruise, where I could see dry land and be got to it much quicker than from the middle of the ocean, but then it occured to me that I have no idea what medical staff, if any, most of the river cruise lines carry as standard.

 

Wonder if anyone could enlighten me please? (and thank you for reading so far)

[CastleCritic]

none, there wont be any kind of infirmary or even a nurse.  At best you will have crew members who are first aid trained and whatever level of knowledge the "fitness" team (usually one guy) has. Im sure there are defibrillators on board but Im blanking on ever seeing one.

 

As you kind of suggested, their plan is to find a dock and summon the EMTs.  Ive never been on a cruise where this has happened for any reason but I have seen it happen in the news on a US river cruise.  Oddly enough in that case because of the difference in river dock infrastructure that ship actually just turned perpendicular to the shore near a highway and grounded itself and deployed its bow boarding ramp (all things the ship was designed for).  

 

Id hesitant if the idea of not being in the hands of trained medical personnel for 30min scares you.  You might get lucky and have a passenger able to help, but thats probably best case.

[YoungDubFan]

 To my knowledge, none of the river cruise companies have any type of medical staff on board. If there is any type of medical emergency, I would assume that they would contact the closest emergency services and off load any passenger needing care as quickly as possible. You are always close to shore but depending on when you are sailing, it could take a while to coordinate where the emergency services could meet up with the boat. 

 

I am assuming that each ships has an AED on board but I don’t know this for a fact. You may want to contact the major companies and ask them if they have one on board. 

 

I’ve taken 3 river cruises and there have never been any passengers who have needed any emergency services. 

[pontac]

Viking Ukraine cruise ships had a doctor, but that's academic now.

 

The European cruises Viking are now operating (i.e. not Ukraine or Russia) do not have medical staff on board, but  I couldn't say if  ALL the many river cruise companies, operating in  many countries, are the same.

[steamboats]

Some river cruise ships have a doctor but just a doctor so no small hospital or anything. The reason they usually don´t even have a doctor is simply that you are not far from the next town. They can order an ambulance car to the next landing spot.

 

steamboats

[dd57]

Just to play devil's advocate, most ocean ships have medical facilities onboard with some level of acute care, defibrillators,  cardiac monitors, emergency medications, labs, x-rays, and some amount of simple surgery capabilities.   I have seen medical teams rushing to passengers, carrying a defibrillator with them.  You could research what each line has onboard, and maybe pick an itinerary that is port intensive like the Med so you are never far from more extensive medical facilities.  And hopefully never need them.

 

I do understand the comfort of being able to see dry land, and peace of mind can mean a lot.  And river cruises are a lot of fun.

[tulok]

We were on Uniworld in Germany when a guest thought he was having a heart attack. Staff had him comfortable until an ambulance could come to the boat. We were near a town and they did dock quickly. A guest that had medical training, not sure if Dr or nurse, they were also with him. It did take a while for the ambulance and they did take him to the closest hospital. It was towards the end of the cruise. We heard he was in the hospital but going to be released soon. 

[CastleCritic]

2 hours ago, tulok said:

We were on Uniworld in Germany when a guest thought he was having a heart attack. Staff had him comfortable until an ambulance could come to the boat. We were near a town and they did dock quickly. A guest that had medical training, not sure if Dr or nurse, they were also with him. It did take a while for the ambulance and they did take him to the closest hospital. It was towards the end of the cruise. We heard he was in the hospital but going to be released soon. 

Ive had a high percentage of cruises with doctors so far.

 

The table mate we had on my first cruise was a Cardiologist from the Detroit area and there was an entire table of them on my last cruise (that cruise would be a bad place to need to dock as we were way east on the Danube and it was many miles between docks.not like the Rhine when its uncommon to not be able to see one.)

[tulok]

1 minute ago, CastleCritic said:

Ive had a high percentage of cruises with doctors so far.

 

The table mate we had on my first cruise was a Cardiologist from the Detroit area and there was an entire table of them on my last cruise (that cruise would be a bad place to need to dock as we were way east on the Danube and it was many miles between docks.not like the Rhine when its uncommon to not be able to see one.)

Or a good place to need a doctor 😂

[Mrs. Claypool]

Last month on a European river cruise, one of the guests had a medical emergency.  An ambulance met the ship at the nearest dock and took her and her husband to the local hospital.

 

This was in Italy and according to the couple, the hospital and its services were horrendous.  This was confirmed by the crew member who escorted them to the hospital and stayed to provide support.

 

Fortunately, she was cleared and released to return to the ship.  If not, she would have had to remain in those very unpleasant conditions for who knows how long?

 

You may want to look into an insurance company that provides medical evacuation service back to your own hospital at home in case of an emergency.  There are quite a few available.  We use MedJet.

 

 

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 hours ago, Mrs. Claypool said:

You may want to look into an insurance company that provides medical evacuation service back to your own hospital at home in case of an emergency.  There are quite a few available.  We use MedJet.

MedJet is great as long as you are <75 [and really cheap if you buy it through AARP].  But we had to drop it this year, because the 75+ plan is only annual, very expensive, and requires annual documentation from every doctor on your list [and at 75 that is a long list!] describing all your issues and certifying that you are fit to travel.

[franski]

On one of our cruises, an elderly woman fell and broke her hip.  She was taken to a hospital in Bulgaria.  We were sailing Viking at that time - and a Viking representative stayed with her in the hospital --> her travelling companion (her sister) continued on with the cruise at the direction of the crew. 

 

The decision was made to air lift her back to Canada - and surgery was performed upon arrival.  She had insurance that covered emergency evacuation --> but the family had to insist it be done on home soil rather than in Bulgaria (I guess it was cheaper to have the surgery done locally, than it was to air lift her home... hence the reticence on the part of the insurance company!!).

 

Fran

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 minute ago, franski said:

The decision was made to air lift her back to Canada - and surgery was performed upon arrival.  She had insurance that covered emergency evacuation --> but the family had to insist it be done on home soil rather than in Bulgaria (I guess it was cheaper to have the surgery done locally, than it was to air lift her home... hence the reticence on the part of the insurance company!!)

This is the unique draw of MedJet.  YOU make the decision to be evacuated and YOU choose the destination hospital.  Other coverage puts the insurance company in charge of the decision, and as long as the local hospital claims they are capable of treating you the insurance company will want you to stay there.

[gnome12]

34 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

This is the unique draw of MedJet.  YOU make the decision to be evacuated and YOU choose the destination hospital.  Other coverage puts the insurance company in charge of the decision, and as long as the local hospital claims they are capable of treating you the insurance company will want you to stay there.

Depending on where you go and what it takes to bring you back to Canada, the economics are different for Canadians, at least those of us in Ontario. The government health plan doesn’t pay anything towards out of Canada treatment, so the insurance company is on the hook. But as soon as they get you home, the government plan kicks in. Unless health care is very cheap where you are, it is in the insurance company’s interest to bring you home. 

[CastleCritic]

1 minute ago, gnome12 said:

Depending on where you go and what it takes to bring you back to Canada, the economics are different for Canadians, at least those of us in Ontario. The government health plan doesn’t pay anything towards out of Canada treatment, so the insurance company is on the hook. But as soon as they get you home, the government plan kicks in. Unless health care is very cheap where you are, it is in the insurance company’s interest to bring you home. 

The only reason why insurance companies are able to even sell their plans is because this is true in the US as well, I would say a rather high percentage of US citizens taking European cruises have private insurance of some kind that doesnt' work as soon as you leave the country.

 

In my family we actually had a family member die on vacation (in the US) where we had to use the trip insurance (though in that case the base insurance paid for all except the deductible, which was submitted to the travel insurance in addition to some of the travel expenses and some portion of the funeral expenses as I recall).  I will never convince my mother to travel without travel insurance after that....

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

3 hours ago, gnome12 said:

Depending on where you go and what it takes to bring you back to Canada, the economics are different for Canadians, at least those of us in Ontario. The government health plan doesn’t pay anything towards out of Canada treatment, so the insurance company is on the hook. But as soon as they get you home, the government plan kicks in. Unless health care is very cheap where you are, it is in the insurance company’s interest to bring you home. 

Based on the cost of my emergency dental work in Buenos Aires, it’s often cheaper for the insurance to pay for local treatment than to evacuate you. 

[Guest ldtr]

On 7/12/2023 at 2:23 PM, Mrs. Claypool said:

Last month on a European river cruise, one of the guests had a medical emergency.  An ambulance met the ship at the nearest dock and took her and her husband to the local hospital.

 

This was in Italy and according to the couple, the hospital and its services were horrendous.  This was confirmed by the crew member who escorted them to the hospital and stayed to provide support.

 

Fortunately, she was cleared and released to return to the ship.  If not, she would have had to remain in those very unpleasant conditions for who knows how long?

 

You may want to look into an insurance company that provides medical evacuation service back to your own hospital at home in case of an emergency.  There are quite a few available.  We use MedJet.

 

 

 

Funny thing is the Healthcare system is higher rated than the US system. Though just as in the US wait times and crowding in the public hospitals can vary. One of the advantages of private hospitals is wait times, though the medical outcomes are the same. 

 

As with many hospitals in Europe, the practices are different. In the US one is normally in a private room, in Europe wards are common. for many in the US being in a ward would be considered to be horrible.

 

A friend of mine had an accident while biking through Italy. He was transported to a local hospital was  treated (surgery in install.pins and fix a broken leg). A couple of days later he was discharged. He, an American, asked for a bill, he was told since it was the result of an accident there was no charge to him, even though he was not a member of the Italian Healthcare system.

[notamermaid]

No doctor, no nurse. One medically trained person for the itinerary beyond Budapest. My experience of how European lines deal with this. 

 

notamermaid 

 

[franski]

On 7/13/2023 at 4:30 PM, gnome12 said:

Depending on where you go and what it takes to bring you back to Canada, the economics are different for Canadians, at least those of us in Ontario. The government health plan doesn’t pay anything towards out of Canada treatment, so the insurance company is on the hook. But as soon as they get you home, the government plan kicks in. Unless health care is very cheap where you are, it is in the insurance company’s interest to bring you home. 

Another challenge is that you have to get someone at the receiving hospital to accept the returning patient.  The woman on my cruise was from one of the prairie provinces (so, fairly "middle" of the country...) She had a family member who was a physician in one of the Atlantic provinces so she was airlifted there for surgery.  All went well...

 

The reason I am aware of all the details is that (by a random coincidence) I know a niece of the woman who broke her hip. I was actually able to work with the Viking staff to coordinate discussions between the family and the medical staff.  Communication was a challenge due to the differences in time zone and language. The staff on the ship were amazing...

 

Fran

[Coral]

On 7/12/2023 at 5:23 PM, Mrs. Claypool said:

Last month on a European river cruise, one of the guests had a medical emergency.  An ambulance met the ship at the nearest dock and took her and her husband to the local hospital.

 

This was in Italy and according to the couple, the hospital and its services were horrendous.  This was confirmed by the crew member who escorted them to the hospital and stayed to provide support.

 

Fortunately, she was cleared and released to return to the ship.  If not, she would have had to remain in those very unpleasant conditions for who knows how long?

 

You may want to look into an insurance company that provides medical evacuation service back to your own hospital at home in case of an emergency.  There are quite a few available.  We use MedJet.

 

 

 

Just a clarification note - MedJet is a transport Hospital to Hospital policy. 

[Coral]

We did have a doctor on my first river cruise but not on my second one. I would not count on one.

 

Places like the Danube - the ports are pretty close to each other, maybe a good itinerary to start with.

[Coral]

On 7/14/2023 at 12:40 AM, ldtr said:

 

A friend of mine had an accident while biking through Italy. He was transported to a local hospital was  treated (surgery in install.pins and fix a broken leg). A couple of days later he was discharged. He, an American, asked for a bill, he was told since it was the result of an accident there was no charge to him, even though he was not a member of the Italian Healthcare system.

While not a surgery (much more expensive) - I did visit a doctor while on a land trip in Europe for needing antibiotics. I asked to pay him. He indicated it was too difficult for him to process the payment for a US citizen so I asked if he had a charity and donated to that.

[Bill Y]

The OP has not said where they are travelling from or where they are considering visiting, the risks would be not much different to a land based holiday IMHO, i.e. dependant on the area/countries visited. A much greater risk would be long flights if there was an emergency.

[steamboats]

Just to clarify... although on an ocean going vessel there usually is a medical center with a doctor they do send the patients to onshore hospitals too as soon as possible for serious illnesses. So you can end up in a hospital on some Caribbean island or Middle America which might not be up to the US standards either. 

 

steamboats