The Brazilian Coast Guard medically evacuated a crew member of the Silversea cruise ship Silver Nova after suffering serious injuries while working on an elevator maintenance. The ship had to change its route to get closer to a port where the injured person could receive the right medical care. The captain of the ship asked for assistance from the Brazilian Coast Guard to airlift the crew member to a hospital on land.
Richard DeAgazio, a passenger on the ship and part of YoloAdventure, said that the captain told everyone on board about the medical emergency through the ship's loudspeaker system. The injured person was either a deckhand or an engineer who got injured while servicing an elevator and sustained serious injuries in the elevator shaft. To help the injured crew member, the ship asked for crew volunteers with O-type blood to donate blood at the medical center.
About an hour and a half after the accident, they announced the need for blood donations. The ship then headed to the nearest port. A few hours later, it was confirmed that a helicopter from the Brazilian Coast Guard will arrive to evacuate the injured person, who was in critical but stable condition.
The captain announced over the PA system that the evacuation by helicopter would happen at 5:00 PM. The ship crew cleared Deck 11 forward starboard side for the evacuation. The crew member was then taken from the medical center on Deck 2 to the pool deck, Deck 10, ready for the evacuation. The Coast Guard team arrived, lowered their personnel, and airlifted the patient.
There's no detailed information about the crew member's nationality or age. The incident happened four days ago while the ship was sailing on 30 day cruise from Rio de Janeiro to Fort Lauderdale. The latest news is that he had a 5-hour surgery and is now in critical but stable condition, being cared for in the ICU.
Richard provided an update on the crew member condition saying “He is still in ICU in Belam and is expected to be out in a few days. Still critical but stable. He had an extensive surgery and they are still positive on his recovery.”
Mr. DeAgazio has posted a video on YouTube showing the whole evacuation process for those interested in seeing what happened you can view it here.
Photo Credit: YoloAdventure video screenshot
