Eniale Posted March 25, 2022 Report Share Posted March 25, 2022 Hopefully allowed. Just got off Independence of the Seas, March 21-25 sailing. Last night (March 24) the captain announced we were getting back to port early due to a medical situation with a guest. Alarmingly, about an hour later, they announced they were looking for five blood donors for the situation. I wondered if anyone here actually saw what happened. Please no rumors, we heard several floating around the ship. I imagine it was rather serious if they needed emergency blood donors. This cruise I learned: they can perform transfusions onboard? Cruiser4Life 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexster Posted March 25, 2022 Report Share Posted March 25, 2022 Wow, that's crazy. I can only think of a few things one could do on a ship that would cause someone to need a blood transfusion. Hopefully they're okay! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruiser4Life Posted March 25, 2022 Report Share Posted March 25, 2022 Oh no. Awful. Prayers for them and their family. Other than a traumatic injury sustained onboard, other reasons could be hemophilia, cancer-related issues such as radiation/chemo complications, internal bleeding such as an ulcer…. So unfortunate to happen at sea. Will be praying for a positive resolution WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pattycruise Posted March 25, 2022 Report Share Posted March 25, 2022 We had this happen on a sailing this past fall. They called for donors, announced we were going “full throttle” to be back at port early. They ended up calling for an emergency airlift. You can see the footage link in the article. We were in some rough water. Amazing job! https://www.cbs17.com/news/north-carolina-news/ailing-woman-airlifted-from-cruise-ship-off-nc-coast-in-nighttime-complex-and-challenging-flight/amp/ Tanner 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loki007 Posted March 26, 2022 Report Share Posted March 26, 2022 Im pretty sure they would not carry blood products because they are incredibly expensive and expire. The doctor on board would be able to perform minor surgeries if absolutely necessary. I assume the call for blood donors was precautionary in the event the surgery had to be performed on the ship. Probably something like a ruptured appendix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChessE4 Posted March 26, 2022 Report Share Posted March 26, 2022 We once attempted to volunteer to donate blood on a cruise. It turned out they had a lot of volunteers, and we weren't needed. So it does happen, albeit rarely. ChanaC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eniale Posted March 26, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2022 2 hours ago, loki007 said: Im pretty sure they would not carry blood products because they are incredibly expensive and expire. The doctor on board would be able to perform minor surgeries if absolutely necessary. I assume the call for blood donors was precautionary in the event the surgery had to be performed on the ship. Probably something like a ruptured appendix. I feel like a ruptured appendix would warrant a medevac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eniale Posted March 26, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2022 16 hours ago, Pattycruise said: We had this happen on a sailing this past fall. They called for donors, announced we were going “full throttle” to be back at port early. They ended up calling for an emergency airlift. You can see the footage link in the article. We were in some rough water. Amazing job! https://www.cbs17.com/news/north-carolina-news/ailing-woman-airlifted-from-cruise-ship-off-nc-coast-in-nighttime-complex-and-challenging-flight/amp/ That is absolutely terrifying but also awe-inspiring, wow. Pattycruise 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eniale Posted March 26, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2022 19 hours ago, Cruiser4Life said: Oh no. Awful. Prayers for them and their family. Other than a traumatic injury sustained onboard, other reasons could be hemophilia, cancer-related issues such as radiation/chemo complications, internal bleeding such as an ulcer…. So unfortunate to happen at sea. Will be praying for a positive resolution We overheard some rumors that all seemed to correlate, but I am trying to minimize hearsay - if any of what we heard was true, injury sounds the most likely. My initial thought was someone slipped and hit their head, which, in a guest on blood thinners or certain medications, could certainly lead to a need for a lot of blood. I'm hopeful that the fact a medevac at sea wasn't necessary is a sign that this person was stable (or able to be stabilized) and will be alright. Pattycruise 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianB Posted March 26, 2022 Report Share Posted March 26, 2022 I've been on two cruises where the call for donors of a certain blood type were made. Both were for medical issues involving internal bleeding...not trauma. The inspiring part is that shortly after the call was made...in both instances...another call shortly followed cancelling the call for volunteers as so many had come forward so quickly that medical was nearly overwhelmed. Amazingly selfless and generous cruisers always ready to step up and help others. Another reason I love cruising! Pattycruise, Neesa, WAAAYTOOO and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eniale Posted March 26, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2022 3 hours ago, BrianB said: I've been on two cruises where the call for donors of a certain blood type were made. Both were for medical issues involving internal bleeding...not trauma. The inspiring part is that shortly after the call was made...in both instances...another call shortly followed cancelling the call for volunteers as so many had come forward so quickly that medical was nearly overwhelmed. Amazingly selfless and generous cruisers always ready to step up and help others. Another reason I love cruising! Yes, they got plenty of donors on our cruise as well. They specifically announced they were looking for male donors - I know there is some research to suggest better outcomes when gender-matching blood transfusions especially in emergencies (so I suspect the guest was male), but I wonder also if it was intended to cull the amount of volunteers. I've never before heard a request for donors, but after being on these boards, it sounds like it happens a lot! Still, I'm very impressed (and relieved) at the capabilities of medical staff onboard. BrianB, WAAAYTOOO and Neesa 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moby Dick Posted March 26, 2022 Report Share Posted March 26, 2022 My/our first cruise ever, we departed Ft. Lauderdale/Port Everglades on Brand X cruise line. A couple hours later or so the Captain announced that he was turning around because of a medical emergency, going back to Miami. You could tell that he increased the speed. Well, we got a mile or so off of Miami and we slowly came to a complete stop. A boat pulled up next to the ship and they moved a body off of the ship and on to the boat. Obviously, the person didn't make it. Rumor was that it was an older gentleman that suffered a heart attach. Don't know for sure other than the rumor. No one else got off of the ship. I assume that the person was traveling alone. But, I don't know that for sure either. WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pattycruise Posted March 27, 2022 Report Share Posted March 27, 2022 7 hours ago, Eniale said: Yes, they got plenty of donors on our cruise as well. They specifically announced they were looking for male donors - I know there is some research to suggest better outcomes when gender-matching blood transfusions especially in emergencies (so I suspect the guest was male), but I wonder also if it was intended to cull the amount of volunteers. I've never before heard a request for donors, but after being on these boards, it sounds like it happens a lot! Still, I'm very impressed (and relieved) at the capabilities of medical staff onboard. They also asked for make on my sailing. One of our group mentioned she’d read something on this. Here is a link that explains why. News to me! https://time.com/4987922/blood-donations-transfusions-pregnant-women/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Templecruiser Posted March 30, 2022 Report Share Posted March 30, 2022 This is happening to us right now on odyssey. They asked for blood donors. Now they are full bore to Aruba. We are supposed to be there 8 am tomorrow, yet we arrived at 10 pm tonight as they could not do what needed to be done with patient. The Fox, PPPJJ-GCVAB and WAAAYTOOO 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatorCruiser Posted March 30, 2022 Report Share Posted March 30, 2022 9 hours ago, Templecruiser said: This is happening to us right now on odyssey. They asked for blood donors. Now they are full bore to Aruba. We are supposed to be there 8 am tomorrow, yet we arrived at 10 pm tonight as they could not do what needed to be done with patient. just awful. I cannot imagine going on a cruise and then having a medical emergency that requires blood products or air evacs or port evacs. Prayers for that person WAAAYTOOO and PPPJJ-GCVAB 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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