Thread: Medical Evacuation - Explorer of the Seas

Coast Guard helps with medical emergency on cruise ship off Sea Bright | APP.com | Asbury Park Press

SANDY HOOK — A Coast Guard rescue boat was dispatched this evening to assist with a medical
emergency on the cruise ship "Explorer of the Seas" as she sat off Sea Bright.
The call was for a passenger who had begun to suffer internal bleeding from a previous existing medical condition, Coast Guard Petty Officer Annie Berlin said.

"A rescue vessel from station Sandy Hook was dispatched at 7:30 p.m. and arrived on station at 8:20 p.m.," she said. "EMS is standing by at station Sandy Hook and the patient will be transported to an area hospital."

Sandy Hook/Sea Bright is in NJ, not far from the Cape Liberty pier and just south of New York City. This looks like it happened very soon after a new cruise started, and the captain decided to get help from the Jersey shore in lieu of trying to get back through The Narrows (the channel of water under the Verrazzano Bridge) and heavy NY ship traffic to get to their home port.

I hope the passenger is OK.

It is a lot easier to have a resue boat come out than to turn around. Not to mention what it does to their schedule. Once when sailing out of LA, a coast guard chopper hoisted a passenger off a ship we were on while we were still in the channel.

Adding map
Yahoo! Maps, Driving Directions, and Traffic

Wanted to show that even if turning around was normally an option, it would not be an easy job in this case

Just read this -- hope the passenger is alright.

We have had two emergency air evacs off our last two cruises. Very interesting experience but not one I would like to experience personally.

On a T/A we were 400 mi.from Pueto Rico,when they airlifted a heart patient off ours,patient survived,but what was awesome, was when they picked up the Coast Guard rescuer from the ship,it was like he was shot out of a cannon,i guess to clear all our cables,cause he had a line on ship that guided basket up.

SILive.com: Everything Staten Island

That was on my ship. It must totally suck to be that person, but I watched the chopper from my room, kinda cool....

Thanks for the link and the eyewitness report, sk8!