The Royal Canadian Air Force, specifically the 19 Wing Comox, has been busy off the British Columbia coast lately.
In just six days, the same search-and-rescue crews have completed three separate medical evacuations from cruise ships sailing Alaska itineraries.
The first two airlifts were made on Disney Wonder and Celebrity Solstice. This time, a Royal Caribbean ship was in need.
On September 14, crews from the RCAF’s 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron responded to a passenger in medical distress aboard Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas while the ship was on its second day of a 7-day cruise from Vancouver.
The ship was about 280 miles northwest of Port Hardy when a CH-149 Cormorant helicopter and a CC-295 Kingfisher aircraft were sent to the 2,143-passenger vessel.
Once the helicopter was on scene, two search-and-rescue technicians were lowered to the deck, secured the patient, and lifted them aboard.
Video footage of the medevac was released by the 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron that you can see here at Chek News.
The passenger was then flown to Port Hardy and transferred to waiting paramedics.
This was the third cruise ship operation in less than a week for the crew. On September 12, the same squadron airlifted a passenger in medical distress from the Celebrity Solstice, which was sailing about 124 miles northwest of Port Hardy.
Just four days earlier, on September 8, crews rescued an injured crew member from the Disney Wonder in the same general area.
While we don’t know the extent of the medical situations involved in each of these three cases, we at Cruise Fever are grateful for the readiness of the 442 Squadron.
In each case the team acted quickly, and the Royal Canadian Air Force definitely deserves recognition for their efforts.
Why Cruise Travel Insurance Matters
While we’re thankful that medevacs can save someone’s life when out at sea, these types of operations are not cheap. Helicopter rescues at sea can easily run into the tens of thousands of dollars depending on distance, weather, and other complications.
Without the right cruise travel insurance that specifically covers emergency medical evacuation and medical expenses, passengers can be left with a massive bill. Even if you’re going on a budget cruise and feel you don’t need insurance to cover it, situations like this (which are always unplanned) can make all the difference.
Comprehensive cruise insurance that includes medevac coverage not only provides financial protection , but it also just gives you some peace of mind in case you ever end up needing to be airlifted from a cruise ship.
That way, you can focus on just enjoying the cruise. We sincerely hope that in each of these cases the airlifted passengers are doing ok.
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