The tragic death of Canadian Bernie Hamilton reminds us to issue this warning (or "caveat emptor") on cruise medical and/or health care: generally, health care providers on most cruise ships, including doctors and nurses, are marginally qualified to handle passenger health care emergencies.
Hamilton, 66, and his wife were on their first transatlantic cruise when he suffered a heart attack in April 2011 while aboard a Holland America Line cruise ship and became brain dead. He never recovered, and died three weeks later on May 5th, 2011.
His wife, Heather Hamilton, informed the Canadian Broadcasting Company's (CBC's) "The Fifth Estate" program that she believes her husband would still be alive if not for a series of misdiagnoses and missteps made by the cruise ship's doctor and staff.
The reader is cautioned and reminded that: No requirements currently exist regarding the competency and training of hired medical personnel aboard cruise ships. Any and all regulations concerning this area are voluntary by the cruise lines.
In other words, the loveable and affable doctor and nurse on your "Love Boat" are likely to be marginally competent to handle your health issues.
According to Mrs. Hamilton, after collapsing on board the ship it took at least an hour for the ship's medical staff to stabilize Bernie Hamilton. The patient and his wife were then ordered off the ship at the Port in Spain where Mr. Hamilton could get medical treatment at a local hospital. At the hospital in Spain he was declared brain dead.
Later, Heather Hamilton wrote a long letter to Holland America laying out in detail her version of the events that led up to her husband's heart attack. She still has not received a reply from Holland America. The only correspondence from the cruise line has been a $2,000 bill for Bernie's medical care.
[see, WWW.CHARLESJEROMEWARE.COM]
No comments:
Post a Comment