Sick grandma dropped in Arctic Sea for 8 minutes in botched rescue from cruise ship

[RamboLiberal]

LONDON — A 73-year-old grandmother was fighting for her life in a British hospital after rescuers dropped her into freezing Arctic waters as they attempted to transfer her from a cruise ship to a lifeboat, British media reported Thursday.

Janet Richardson reportedly began to feel dizzy and ill on the Ocean Countess cruise along the coast of Norway last month. After she was examined by the ship's doctor the captain decided to transfer her to shore for treatment.

Another passenger on the ship, Colin Prescott, said both the ship and the lifeboat "were steaming at ten knots" when paramedics tried to move her on a stretcher, The Sun newspaper reported.

"The vessels, which hadn't been latched together, suddenly moved apart by several feet as they were transferring her, which caused the rescue crews to drop the stretcher into the sea," Prescott said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42697865/ns/travel-news/


Colin Prescott / Patrick Hill
Janet Richardson, 73, falls into the sea while being transferred to a rescue boat after being taken ill on board the Ocean Countess ship.

Wow - poor lady! Hope she recovers!

[hlthe2b]

1. Oh, Lordy...

Talk about a "shock" to the system...

[Blue Owl]

2. They're just testing Paul Ryan's new privatized Social Security/Medicare plan

Cut the rescue boat and just drag her through the water -- we don't need big government telling us what to do.

[SoCalDem]

13. Ice water therapy, republican style

poor lady..

[DCKit]

3. Macho, cowboy negligence.

As if it would have killed them to slow or stop the boat. Morans.

[WatsonT]

4. Um . . . what?

Where did you get that in the article?

[DCKit]

5. "...both the ship and the lifeboat "were steaming at ten knots" "

If you have a better explanation, I'd be happy to hear it.

[brendan120678]

7. Ten knots...according to a passenger...

who may or may not have any knowledge or experience with nautical navigation.

[WatsonT]

9. Ships need to be moving

otherwise they're at the mercy of the waves.

Get them both moving at a good clip in the same direction and you're better off in many circumstances than trying to come to a full stop and having them drift randomly at different rates.

But hey, maybe these Norwegian folks don't have much experience with ships or the ocean. Let me wikipedia this . . . .

[DCKit]

10. Sounds reasonable. Guess they're going to have to come up with a better method.

This kind of accident is just too horrific to be allowed to happen again.

[Marrah_G]

12. Accidents like this cannot be completely avoided...

...unless humans stay out of the Oceans.

[RamboLiberal]

6. I've thought that as well

Wonder if there is a good reason they didn't.

[Xithras]

8. Ships are more stable when they're moving.

A ship at full stop is going to roll as each wave hits it. Because of the space between the ships, the two would roll with different timing, making any transfer difficult.

A moving ship has the inertia to cut through the waves, and rolls far less. This makes ship-to-ship transfers much easier, and safer for those being transferred.

Safety and controllability of the ships is also an issue. When two ships are at a full stop, the captains have little to no control over their movement. If the waves push them into each other, there is little the crew can do to avoid it. If the ships are underway and their props are turning, the helm maintains directional control, allowing the ship to be turned to counter any movement induced by the waves, and avoid a collision.

Transfers while the ships are underway have been the standard for at least the past century (longer probably), and are standard operating procedure.

[Marrah_G]

11. They can't stop in seas like that

You're passing judgment without proper knowledge of the facts on a group of people who were risking their own lives to help another. Accidents happen, especially when mother nature is involved.

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. And yet, when I look up transfer of a patient at sea

I find, from the World Health Organisation International Medical Guide for Ships:

Ship-to-ship transfer of doctor or patient

A very large tanker or other ship under way at sea may require 30 minutes or an hour to bring her main propulsion machinery to standby ... Light (unloaded) ships of any type and high-sided passenger ships will make considerable leeway when stopped and must be approached with caution. Some ships may have to turn their propellers very slowly during the operation.

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=x1hfmZzKVbYC&pg=PA281&lpg=PA281&dq=ship+ship+transfer+%22under+way%22+patient&source=bl&ots=_lzboDovz1&sig=7lxk4UVUx9cFjLSq7rWe0nOfw0I&hl=en&ei=rq2wTcDYHJOr8APOna30Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CDoQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=ship%20ship%20transfer%20%22under%20way%22%20patient&f=false

Which indicates stopping is indeed an option; and the pictures in the article show a lot more speed than that from 'propellers turning very slowly' (as does taking 8 minutes to rescue her after she fell in - that implies they left her behind and had to turn around to reach her).

[Marrah_G]

16. This was in artic seas

Stopping would have put more people in danger.

[muriel_volestrangler]

17. Why are arctic seas more dangerous for that?

Note that this was just 2 miles from a port - I'd have thought they could have gone there, and, if not transferred straight to a dock-side, at least done it somewhere sheltered.

A spokesman for Cruise and Maritime Voyages, which operates the service, said Mrs Richardson was suffering from internal bleeding and an emergency call was made by the ship to the Norwegian Rescue Authorities.

He said: "A rescue craft was provided by the authorities and whilst the rescue crews were seeking to transfer the stretcher into the rescue craft Mrs Richardson fell into the water.

"Mrs Richardson was rescued and immediately transferred to the Norwegian port of Bodo, approximately two nautical miles away and was transferred to the local hospital."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-13154500

[librechik]

14. looks freakin cold!

one more in the stack of reasaons why grandma librechik will never go on a cruise

[MellonCollie]

18. She died

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-13170120

[CaliforniaPeggy]

19. How terrible...

I hope that her death was not hastened by her being dropped into the sea.

My condolences to her family and friends...