Health Care Guidelines for Cruise Ship Medical Facilities

Reaffirmed by the ACEP Board of Directors October 2007 and October 2001
Revised and approved by the ACEP Board of Directors titled, "Health Care Guidelines for Cruise Ship Medical Facilities" December 1997
Originally approved by the ACEP Board of Directors titled, "Guidelines for Care of Cruise Ship
Medical Facilities" September 1995
As an adjunct to this policy statement, ACEP’s Section on Cruise Ship and Maritime Medicine has prepared a Policy Resource and Education Paper (PREP) entitled, "Health Care Guidelines for Cruise Ship Medical Facilities" 

The American College of Emergency Physicians believes that appropriate emergency care and health care maintenance for passengers and crew members aboard ships sailing in international waters are desirable. The cruise ship industry and its medical departments should retain medical personnel who can:

• Provide quality maritime medical care for passengers and crew members aboard cruise ships;
  
   
• Initiate appropriate stabilization, diagnostic, and therapeutic maneuvers for critically ill or medically unstable patients;
  
   
• Support, comfort, and care for patients on board ship; and
  
   
• Assist, in conjunction with the cruise line, in the medical evacuation of patients in a timely fashion when appropriate.