What is the infirmary like on a modern cruise ship?
A. The medical center on a modern cruise ship is pretty much like any hospital-based emergency department, with some limitations: you don’t have a CT scanner or an MRI machine. However, it is equipped to deal with most emergencies, right up to heart attacks. Only a few times have I had to disembark a patient for emergency evacuation back to the United States. In some cases, we try to stabilize the patient until he or she can get the appropriate care at the next port. What you do depends on what part of the world you’re in. You can’t disembark a patient to a lower level of care.
