Medical emergency evacuation from a cruise ship at sea

Huge respect to both the cruise ship crew and the authorities!

It’s reassuring to know there’s well equipped rescue teams in other areas of the world who pride themselves on saving others lives. This was a rare depiction. Thanks

I love how amateurs with no experience whatsoever second guess the professionals who do this work every single day. I used to work on a helicopter flight deck. (USCG) Even with every sailor being fully trained (tie down crew, crash rescue team, firefighters, landing safety officer, safety observer), and using a helicopter which is designed to fit on our flight deck, and having a flight crew which has been fully trained and certified to land on that particular vessel, it was one of the most dangerous things I've ever been exposed to in my 10 year career. I actually received extra pay, Helicopter Flight Deck Incentive Pay, just to do it. Trust me, Navy and Coast Guard pilots are not about to land on any civilian ship if there's any other way to complete a rescue. The helicopter is moving one way while the ship is bouncing around another way. It's extremely dangerous in the best of conditions. That's why you just saw these Danish airmen pull off a perfect rescue without landing. That's the way it's done! Bravo Zulu! And PS: To all the know-it-alls, the patient is alive. No country will risk the lives of a flight crew just to transport a dead body. Of course the patient is wrapped up for protection, including his face. Did you see the airman remove the pillow from the stokes litter so it wouldn't get sucked into the engine air intake? Why would the ship's doctor give a pillow to a dead man? And why the hell would a white-colored sheet indicate the man is dead? (Yes...Simon Priisholm said that like it was a fact) Everybody's an authority, yet nobody knows what they're talking about.

Thats sure is some skill hovering soo still and yet moving with the ship

I’ve been a Deputy over 26 years with a lot of experience and these guys are still total bad asses

I went on a cruise not long ago and there was a group of old people who were hilarious they had the same sense of humor as me (very deadpan) and the oldest who was pushing 100 passed the night before our last stop. It was a sad ending to the cruise but they all seemed happy she had fun in her last days.

Amazing work. Such heroes! Thank you for your service. I feel safer just knowing there are people like you out there who have our backs when we need it. God Bless all of you..

I am in ore of these people. So compassionate, the guy with his arm around the woman in the beginning chocked me up. Thank you all, every one of you x

Great job to the rescue team!! Very smooth, professional operation. This gives a new prospective on the dangerous work these folks do and they make it look easy. Enjoyed watching the video very much.

I have actually been on a cruise ship where this happened. The helicopter made 3 or 4 practice approaches to the ship, each time asking the ships captain turn the ship so the helicopter faced directly into the wind. A basket was used in this case and the passenger was winched aboard the hovering helicopter. As soon as he was on the helicopter, it rose straight up several hundred feet, banked sharply, and raced for Nassau. It was spectacular to watch and it was clear that everyone involved was highly trained. My hats off to them.

i have to say that each one of these guys are heroes amongst us.they may train but they risk their lives to save mine and your lives whenever we need them.i watched them save someone when i was a kid and never forgotten how they came from out the sky and took this guy away and to hospital who saved his life .

That's beautiful! Seeing human compassion is so refreshing.

Spectacular effort by all involved. This has to be the worst nightmare for anyone, let alone an older couple. Hope the passenger got the help they needed in time and made a speedy recovery. This is what can be done when people work together to help one another.

That pilot has some incredible skills!

I worked in cruise ship for 5 years, and I have seen several "Emergency Medical Evacuation" live. The most amazing thing is that the helicopter has to match the speed with the speed of the ship, irrespective of the ever changing airflow, and how both the helicopter pilot and the ship's captain coordinates the entire evacuation is the most daring scenes I have ever seen. An excellent job too is done by the ship's medical team to safely harness the stretcher and the bedridden patient, clip it on to the helicopter's winch and take the entire load up inside the helicopter seems nothing less than an action packed Hollywood sequence.

That was sobering to watch but, so well done with such care and respect ... We all should be inspired by their professionalism and by their acts

That was brilliantly done. The excellent men and women who carry out this incredible work every day are so important and form such a vital link in the chain to supporting and helping us when we get into trouble and need help. They are superbly skilled, highly trained and very brave, (though they will never admit to that last bit!). This was a fantastic demonstration of team work at its highest level and really well captured on film from the ship (well done whoever the camera person was!). It is good to know that around the globe, from so many developed nations, people who have dedicated their lives to this work are out there when the call comes. Thank you to every single one of you.

If I needed medical attention and had to be extracted from a cruise ship I’d want those guys!! They made a very dangerous situation look easy 🇨🇦👍

I remember vividly a 1989 drowned diver incident we were on. The diver was recovered from 75 ft . We transported him to shore with the RIB and handed him off to the US Navy Diver recovery team. They flew him out in much the same way as that helicopter did. The divers wife was on the other side of the USCG boat Point Bennett. She must have been crushed. We were out of Canada and responded to a number of US boaters transiting our area. July 2nd or 3rd 1989., i remember his name. Russell Johnson 58 yrs old.

Amazing. God Bless them all for what they do.