Crusin'.....

Here is a "bridge cam" link:

www.princesscruises.com/fleet/grand/bridge_cam.html

The rest of the Princess Cruises site can be navigated from the above link.

The Birmingham News
Sunday, March 21, 1999

Princess Cruises equips full fleet with Automatic defibrillators for heart attacks

Princess Cruises has equipped its entire fleet with more than 65 automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) to assist in the treatment of sudden cardiac arrest.

The portable defibrillators, which augment the larger defibrillators currently found in all Princess shipboard medical centers, will provide the quickest possible care in the event of a cardiac emergency while at sea, said Princess. The Heartstream ForeRunner units are made by Hewlett-Packard Co.

"Lightweight portable defibrillators will enable us to perform resuscitation efforts on cardiac patients much more quickly," said Dr Alastair Smith, Princess' vice president of fleet medical. "Since we know that fast response and treatment of cardiac patients enhances the likelihood of recovery, this should provide another level of assurance to passengers about our commitment to a high quality of medical care."

Heartstream ForeRunner AEDs use low-energy SMART Biphasic technology, which allows a broad range of emergency first-responders (emergency medical technicians, fire department personnel, police officers, security guards, flight attendants) to deliver defibrillation to victims of sudden cardiac arrest in those critical first few minutes.

"Princess Cruises has taken an important step in providing enhanced response capabilities to passengers in times of medical emergencies at sea," said Deborah DiSanzo, operations manager of Heartstream Inc. We are pleased to see the company equip its ships with such a full complement of machines, as this will greatly facilitate timely treatment of cardiac arrest patients."

Smith said that the new equip ment is a further enhancement a Princess Cruises being able to provide the highest level of medical care available at sea. "All our ship board medical centers operate with a full complement of equipment and supplies, and each center is staffed by a full-time team of British-registered doctors and nurses," he said.

The company was the first to introduce telemedicine capabilities between its ships and land-based medical specialists, said Princess.

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