...

This item was written by Johanna Jainchill, who covers the travel industry for Travel Weekly. Jainchill is serving as Guest Editor of The Cruise Log while USA TODAY Cruise Editor Gene Sloan is away.

An advocate for travelers with disabilities said that the recent mishap between Carnival Cruise Lines and a passenger's dialysis machine is a lesson that travelers should always keep medical equipment on their person.

As several Florida news outlets reported this week, a South Florida family was escorted off a Carnival ship last Saturday after the cruise line was not able locate one of the family members' dialysis machine.

According to a report on Local10.com, Lillian Hensley, her disabled daughter, her son and son's wife were all supposed to be on a five-day Carnival cruise from Miami this week, but instead were asked to disembark before it departed because the daughter's dialysis equipment was not located.

ALSO ONLINE: Disney Cruise Line investigates alleged theft of iPhone
ALSO ONLINE: Report: Ship fumigated after illness outbreak

Hensley's daughter requires nightly dialysis, the report said, and Hensley received clearance from Carnival to bring a portable dialysis machine on board. Hensley said she she checked the equipment with the rest of her luggage and boarded the ship.

Carnival said that Hensley had advised the line that she would be bringing medical supplies, but that she would hand-carry them onto the ship, "per Carnival's standard procedures in these cases."

Carnival said Hensley turned over her dialysis supplies to a porter at the cruise terminal, and that there was "some question as to whether the supplies actually made it on board as the shipboard staff was not able to locate them." Carnival then decided it was better for Hensley not to sail, "Given that it is imperative that Ms. Hensley have her dialysis supplies."

Hensley told the news channel that she informed Carnival that she did not want to disembark without the machine, which her daughter needs to survive, and that Carnival "did not offer an apology or explanation, but told her to take her daughter to the emergency room."

Roberta Schwartz, owner of Imagine Your Vacations and the former Director of Education for the Society for Accessible Travel & Hospitality, an advocate group for travelers with disabilities, said that travelers should always carry their medical equipment with them.

"It's ultimately up to the passenger to be responsible for any valuables, whether it's travel papers, passports, jewelry, medicines, and medical equipment," Schwartz said. "When bringing your own equipment, it shouldn't be out of your sight."

Schwartz added that valuables like medical equipment should never be checked in.

"While most of the time everything shows up, there are times when things go missing," she said. "I think we've all experienced lost baggage somewhere in our travels."

Schwartz said that without knowing the size of the passenger's machine, it's not clear why she chose to give it to a porter. However, she said shoreside staff, including the porters who are not cruise line employees, need more training on how to handle medical equipment. She also suggested that the cruise line have a special tagging system that could have flagged the machine as critical to be delivered.

"Then again, she never should have checked it in the first place," Schwartz said.

Carnival said that once the ship was at sea on Saturday, the supplies were located, and that they will be delivered to Hensley's residence when the Carnival Destiny returns to port today.

In the Local10 report, Hensley said that Carnival's apology and offer of full refund of her family's cruise fare along with a credit for a future five-day cruise was not enough, and that she is considering a lawsuit.

...

The HSE West is joining forces with the special delivery unit on a national initiative in an effort to reduce out-patient waiting times at Galway University Hospitals.

Eight thousand people are waiting over six years for orthopaedic outpatient services at Galway University hospitals.

According to figures released at this months regional health forum meeting, it's the longest waiting list for any outpatient department at GUH.

Nephrology out-patients face a wait of more than five-and-a-half years for an appointment; while the wait for urology patients is more than five years.

Chair of the regional health forum councillor Padraig Conneelly, described the figures as horrendous.

However, the HSE has defended its action on wait lists, saying it has already started to work on action plans to reduce waiting times.
 

...

New Chilliwack-Hope MLA Gwen O'Mahony is using her time in Victoria to tackle a number of causes close to the heart of her supporters, including kidney dialysis.

The lack of a kidney dialysis unit in Chilliwack has been an important issue for Elaina Wugalter, whose husband has to travel to Abbotsford three times a week for treatment.

Wugalter formed a Facebook group-"We Want A Dialysis Unit in Chilliwack"-which now has 111 members, after treacherous winter weather in January led to advisories to stay off the road.

As the then-candidate for the NDP , O'Mahony immediately responded and forwarded the issue to party leader Adrian Dix and health critic Mike Farnworth.

On May 15, O'Mahony asked Minister of Health Mike de Jong about the issue and if he would "commit to exploring options for local dialysis in Chilliwack" in the Legislature.

"I was shocked to hear that members of my community and surrounding areas still had to make the journey to Abbotsford to receive life-dependent dialysis," she said.

De Jong said there were 13 patients receiving dialysis in Abbotsford who come from Chilliwack (a number he later put at 18) but that the threshold for when a unit is created is set by the B.C. Provincial Renal Agency, not the ministry.

"I will be strongly influenced by recommendations that flow from the B.C. Provincial Renal Agency," de Jong said. "If they determine that we have hit a threshold where establishing a permanent dialysis presence in Chilliwack is necessary, that will be strongly influential, I can assure the member. They have not provided that advice thus far."

O'Mahony then clarified that taking into account the surrounding areas, closer to 30 local patients have to travel to Abbotsford.

De Jong said the number was actually 24, and he added that the broader issue was not the "very, very infrequent weather event," but the limited transportation links between Abbotsford and Chilliwack.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

...