Cruise Ship Heart Attack

Date:: May 3, 2023

I was hired to be the medic for a large orchestra traveling the world. The organizers of one trip decided to take everyone on a day cruise.

There was a 60 year old that I was watching and just felt something was “off” about him. The way he walked, how out of breath he was when we really weren’t doing anything strenuous, the color of his skin.

I asked him if he was feeling ok and in the middle of him answering, he grabbed his arm and fell into me. I had a good idea of what was going on.

He was awake and in a good amount of pain. I quickly gave him some low dose aspirin to chew and put oxygen on him. He was having some kind of heart episode so I wanted to get him to advanced care as soon as I could. The problem was we were about 20 minutes from shore.

I got my partner to tell the captain what was happening and then made a make shift stretcher out of a lounger by the pool. I had 6 people help me carry him to the rear of the boat where the Coast Guard meet us with a swift boat.

I would have rather put him on a helicopter but none was available. We got him to a hospital where he was monitored for 24 hours. He had a mild heart event, put on some medication, and actually rejoined the group after a day.

He had a great rest of the trip, but I kept a close eye on him.

Matthew C.
Advanced EMT
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Tip From The Medic
If a patient is awake and alert enough, giving them low dose chewable aspirin will aid in preventing blood clots and stoppages in the lungs and heart. Aspirin doesn’t thin the blood, it actually makes the blood more slippery.

Never give meds to someone who has lost consciousness.

If someone is dealing with a heart issue, keeping them calm and not having them exert themselves is critical too. Doing what you can to minimize movement could save their life.

Matthew’s quick thinking in giving the right meds to the patient, getting advanced care moving towards him within the first minute of noticing a problem, and keeping the patient’s movement to a minimium is why he is one of our most requested medics.