Medical emergencies on large passenger ships without doctors: the Oslo-Kiel-Oslo ferry experience

COVID-19 and seafarers’ rights to shore leave, repatriation and medical assistance: a pilot study

“…On the other hand, a case study of the United States revealed that neoliberal policies taken together with technology could create conditions that may for example, increase health inequity among seafarers [36]. Medical assistance to seafarers has been the focus of several case studies [37][38][39][40], but it draws little attention and receives limited public resources for provision of services [32]. Moreover, identifying and addressing special health and welfare needs of women seafarers is a work in progress [41].…”

Regulation for Providing Medical First Aid/Medical Care on Board Ferry Vessels in Croatia: Update Proposal

“…The data from tele-medical consultations prescribed by the Directive and designated to one of the centers onshore and personnel (doctors) trained to provide medical advice (European Economic Community, 1992) are an important indicator of the most common illnesses and injuries on board vessels. Taking into consideration the data of the frequency for radio medical (RM) assistance of 5.7 calls per one million passengers (Jensen et al, 2005) as well as the evacuation rate of 2.3 per 100,000 person-days (Holt et al, 2017), and comparing it with the Croatian seaport passenger transport quantity in 2017, that need could be expected and could be several times more frequent. Consequently, the provision of efficient medical care on board becomes a priority.…”

“…It is divided into cruise and non-cruise modalities, of which the latter refers to passengers transported by ferry vessels. The characteristics of ferries are manifested on relatively short distances and liner services (Holt et al, 2017). The global ferry industry transports yearly around 2.1 billion passengers with additional 250 million vehicles and 32 million trailers (InterFerry, 2018).…”

“…The research made by Holt et al (2017) is the first research paper on medical emergencies and evacuations without doctors on two ferries during a 3-year period. The research findings showed a total of 169 persons, of which 14 crewmembers transferred for medical emergencies ashore mainly for the heartrelated symptoms (38.5 %).…”

“…The research indicated the patient transfer rate of 4.3 per 100,000 person-days from ferries to shore side medical facilities, and a total evacuation rate of 2.3 per 100,000 person-days. The authors also indicated the intention of navigation officers to examine the possibility of adding paramedics on smaller ferries operating on shorter crossings (Holt et al, 2017). The statistics of tele-medical service can be interconnected with the typical diseases and injuries on board ferries in the observed period.…”