Princess Cruises?

[waffleiron]

Damn it actually sounds as cool as I think it is. Incredible. What happens if/when you get a really sick patient that needs tertiary care? Say you're out to sea and you have a patient with a STEMI that got intubated and has medications running. I assume the Coast Guard would be called to hoist the pt. out and fly them to appropriate care, but a lot of those interventions might be beyond the scope of practice for the standard CG medic (my experience with Coast Guard medics consists of watching those shows on the Weather Channel so I could be completely wrong regarding their scope of practice). Is there a plan/protocol for situations like this?

 

[Sea Medic]

We had that specific patient. He wasn't a STEMI but critical nonetheless. Our medical centers are full fledged ER's with 4 dedicated cardiac beds with all monitoring including the capabilities of caring for vented patients. In the event of a critical patient, we continue to keep them as long as necessary. In the example you gave, we would still be the higher level of care and would keep that patient on board until we reached a shoreside facility capable of continuing care. The coast guard is only an option if we're within 80 nautical miles as their birds can not come to us, conduct the hoist, and fly back any greater distance than that without causing fuel concerns. There have been many times that we have come into port with a critical patient but kept them on as we were still the better standard of care (Bora Bora is a good example).
A bit long but does that answer your question?

 

[waffleiron]

That is really friggin cool. Keep us posted!

 

[Jon]

We had that specific patient. He wasn't a STEMI but critical nonetheless. Our medical centers are full fledged ER's with 4 dedicated cardiac beds with all monitoring including the capabilities of caring for vented patients. In the event of a critical patient, we continue to keep them as long as necessary. In the example you gave, we would still be the higher level of care and would keep that patient on board until we reached a shoreside facility capable of continuing care. The coast guard is only an option if we're within 80 nautical miles as their birds can not come to us, conduct the hoist, and fly back any greater distance than that without causing fuel concerns. There have been many times that we have come into port with a critical patient but kept them on as we were still the better standard of care (Bora Bora is a good example).
A bit long but does that answer your question?

Sounds like it can get a bit sporty. On your ship with 4 inpatient beds - aside from the 2 medics, what was your staffing like?

 

[Sea Medic]

Staffing on our bigger ships is usually 2 doctors, 3 nurses, and 2 paramedics. That sometimes fluctuates due to the ship's itinerary and season but those are pretty much what they try to keep on board.
The inpatient beds are in addition to the other 6 beds for minor medical concerns that aren't specifically set up for 24/7 monitoring. It's difficult to visualize until you actually see the entire clinic and then it makes sense.

 

[Medic722]

Just got hired

Greetings all just got hired back in November. Awaiting ship assignment.
Excited to get started, everyone at Princess has been
amazing. Answered all my questions and so friendly. Made me feel very welcomed.

 

[CruiseMedic]

Current Cruise Medic

Hey guys! I'll be heading out to my 3rd contract soon. I guess that makes me a veteran in the cruise line medic world. Hope I can add some insight to Sea Medic's and Jaysonsd's answers. Shout out to Jaysonsd as I had the pleasure of working with him on this last contract and some good times we had!

All in all, I love this job! It's not for everyone. It is what you make it. I've now visited 16 countries and 38 cities across the world, hiked mountains in Norway, scuba dived in Hawaii, pub crawled in Naples, too many margaritas in Mexico, overnight in St. Petersburg, Russia in which my memory is still sketchy on what really happened that night , skydived over North Shore on Oahu at sunset, secret cabin parties, "Medic Parties" (known as the best), wine tasting at vineyards in France/Italy/Mexico, sunbathing at certain discrete beaches in France, made hundreds of friends, "lived, laughed, loved".......oh and did some medical stuff too! Hahaha!

Just let me know if you have any questions and I'll try to answer them and good luck to those applying and sail safe to those on board now!

 

[Medic722]

Greetings

New hire here, I have a ton of questions. Any help is appreciated. Training February 11-14

 

[CruiseMedic]

New Hire

Medic722,

There is a bunch of questions that will probably be answered by looking back at previous posts, more specifically, ones by jaysonsd and sea medic. If you have any other questions on top of that let me know. Good luck to you! It's an adventure!

 

[Medic722]

Hope we have the opportunity to work together one day.
I'm transitioning from being a Flight Attendant to Shipboard Paramedic.
May I PM you with some questions? Thanks!

 

[Medic722]

Anyone else heading to training?

Has anyone been scheduled for training or received their ship assignments?

 

[Medic722]

...

...

 

[ExpatMedic0]

Ya I would like to hear an update from the guys who did this. I am so Jealous and interested.

 

[TacMedic]

Princess Hiring Progress

I submitted a resume in November. I've not heard from them at all. I am wondering how long the process might take or maybe the resume hit the circular file (hope not).

 

[socalmedic]

I submitted my Resume at about the same time and they responded within a few days. maybe re-send?

 

[Sea Medic]

November and December are horrible for the office because of all the personnel changes that take place before Christmas. Between people ending contracts and others beginning new ones, trying to keep up with just the 20,000 people currently working is a huge task but even bigger when you factor in the people submitting resumes. On top of that, two of the primary personnel in training and hiring were actually at sea on my ship training some new nurses for almost two weeks. I don't want anyone to take it as them ignoring you, but more than likely it was truly circumstances where there were a million things colliding at once.

Re-submit it and let them know that you aren't lost in the shuffle. Worst thing they can do is tell you no.

 

[ExpatMedic0]

There is internet but it's not DSL. It is satellite based and speed is determined by the ship's location. You can access it from your PC but you do have to by an internet card (think calling card) for reasonable rates ($20 for 300 MB). You learn very quickly where the free wifi is in port and I have grown to love Starbucks even though their coffee is expensive, their internet is not.

Would you say the internet is solid enough to take distant learning classes from a university?

 

[TacMedic]

Thanks! I hate to pester them. I did receive a read receipt when I sent the resume in November. I sent an email yesterday, just inquiring about my status in the process. I didn't (and maybe should have???) re-send the resume in that inquiry message.

 

[medicaustik]

Wow.. this thread is EXACTLY what I was looking for.

It seems multiple cruise lines are starting to see the value of having a paramedic on board (We have a vast scope of practice, arguable larger than an RN, and require less pay than an RN). I hope it becomes the norm across all the fleets. It makes too much sense.

I've sent out my resume, and hope to hear back. I've been on a couple of cruises, and man did I love being at sea. The harder the boat was rocking, the better I slept..

Can't thank the guys who are already employed enough. The information has been EXCELLENT, and you answered some of the questions I was afraid we would never have answered.

 

[Medic722]

Updates as things progress

I'm super excited to progress through the
Process. Everyone at Princess has been amazing.
I can't wait to experience training.