The required medical equipment includes devices to handle emergencies, including cardiac monitors, defibrillators, portable oxygen and respiratory-support equipment. The trend to obtain consultation services from hospitals and universities, often with the aid of technology, continues. The Holland America line, for instance, has a consultation contract with the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. The line's ships use the MedServe system, which provides dial-up medical consultations by way of satellite. The system can transmit X-rays, EKGs and live video images to consulting clinicians.
Digital cameras are simple but helpful additions on some ships.
Sally van Boheemen, manager of fleet medical services for Holland America, says all of the line's ships have digital cameras. The technology came in handy recently, she said, when a crew member came to the infirmary with an odd rash. The ship's doctor snapped a digital picture and transmitted it by computer to a dermatology consultant, and soon had a diagnosis and treatment plan. Cruise line officials say the pharmacy inventories on board are evaluated regularly to keep up with what doctors are prescribing onshore. Even with the mandatory guidelines and technological links to land-based facilities, shipboard medicine is inherently limited and can't duplicate the services found at a community hospital.