Royal Caribbean passenger collapses in Florida cruise terminal, saved by port workers
Three Port Canaveral employees are being recognized for their quick actions in potentially helping save a cruise passenger's life after the passenger collapsed in the parking garage of Cruise Terminal 1.
According to the port, the passenger was stricken about 7 a.m. EDT Sunday when he was getting off Royal Caribbean International's Harmony of the Seas after a cruise.
"Working as a team, three Port Canaveral employees helped to save the life of a man," the port said in a Facebook post describing the incident.
"The team of cruise operations associates sprang into action.
"Each one took on a different role to help save his life — Sean Summers called 911, Josh Clayton ran to get a portable defibrillator, and Stephanie Dobson stayed with the man and monitored his condition until the ambulance arrived."
The port said other passengers — a nurse and a doctor — performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation until members of Canaveral Fire Rescue and the Brevard County Sheriff's Office arrived moments later.
"All of a sudden, I hear a bunch of people screaming," Summers said, in recalling the scene on a video interview the port posted on Facebook.
"I run over. I notice a man sprawled down on the ground. And, then, basically, I grabbed my radio, and said: 'I need a paramedic, ASAP. Please send a deputy.' "
Meanwhile, Clayton — who said he was familiar with the locations of the defibrillators inside the terminal — ran inside to get one.
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Initially, the patient had no pulse. When Clayton ran back to the scene with the defibrillator, it was attached to the patient, "shocked him once, and there was a return of a pulse," Dobson said.
She said the man was alert and talking when he was being put into an ambulance for transport to the hospital.
Dobson said timing was crucial for the patient.
If the man "had been been in a shuttle on his way to the airport or to home, whatever it might be, it might have been a different outcome, where it wasn't as positive as this one is," Dobson said.
The video the port posted was getting extensive Facebook viewership, with more than 31,000 views as of Monday afternoon, and was shared 127 times. Facebook users commenting on the post praised the three port employees for the quick response and teamwork.
Dobson said, looking back on the incident, the positive outcome made her feel "on top of the world."
Dave Berman is government editor at FLORIDA TODAY.
Contact Berman at 321-242-3649
or dberman@floridatoday.com.
Twitter: @bydaveberman
Facebook: /dave.berman.54
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Royal Caribbean cruise passenger collapses, saved by port workers
