Interesting blog about a diabetic kid's experience on a DCL cruise

[_auroraborealis_]

That's really high numbers. 74.2 million kids are in the USA. Wonder why the numbers keep on going up for kids. With the really high numbers of kids having problems now DCL should be well trained.

I think for the majors, they have strong protocols. But they still aren't medical personnel.

For the less frequent issues, like Type I diabetes, they have general protocols that can be applied. But you simply cannot expect every CM to understand every ailment.

 

[dclpluto]

I think for the majors, they have strong protocols. But they still aren't medical personnel.

For the less frequent issues, like Type I diabetes, they have general protocols that can be applied. But you simply cannot expect every CM to understand every ailment.

Yes but expect the ones that work with kids to have common sense.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I'm not necessarily hearing anything in the one-sided telling of this story that is inconsistent with either common sense from the CMs, or compliance with their internal protocols, which cannot be overridden by CMs.

 

[JenPinks]

Who in the world is allergic to Skittles??? It's just sugar, for the most part. That's BS

Maybe allergic to the food dyes

 

[bbel]

First off, thank you for sharing! I do indeed recall the red locks on my boys' bands (both are vegetarian and one has migraine headaches--nothing I'd consider severe but would definitely warrant a call to me or DH to come get him ASAP so we could take him back to cabin and get meds in him)! All I have pictures in my mind is the phrase, "hearding cats" Wow, that is a lot of work! Does DCL pay for all your ongoing training/certification for CPR, etc?

Yes, a lot of hearding lol! You regularly get funny looks when a parent is pushing a kid to go join in because they're running a little late, and they get pulled over to have the band checked, but again, safety first!
I cant remember if it was DCL or another cruise line I was applying to work with at the same time (or both), but I had to already have a paediatric first aid certificate before I started (I already had one in date so didn't need to bother). The your first week onboard all CM have first aid 'training' - I honestly don't remember doing it, I think it was just a video but I have a DCL certificate saying I did it, but I also don't remember a lot of that first week - learning so much (safety, ship, people, job) and a 9 hour time difference probably didn't help.
When we return we have a re-cap training thing within the department, and because CM come and go all the time, every couple of months we have different training sessions all together (e.g. epi-pens, illnesses...).
But honestly, really we get basic training and told who to contact (basically call medical immediately and they're there within minutes) - Disney don't want us treating more than a band aid or ice pack as we're not medically trained for liability reasons.

 

[bbel]

Yes but expect the ones that work with kids to have common sense.

Because a person follows the rules doesn't mean they don't have common sense.

I would say that all CM have a basic knowledge of common childhood illnesses/diseases - no more and no less than child carers on land.
If you want a more in depth knowledge then Disney need to hire doctors and nurses for the kids clubs...but then they won't be trained in children, you just got to pick your battles/priorities.

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

I'm an adult living with Type 1 and wear an insulin pump and i was diagnosed around age 23 completely unexpected. I appreciate so very much some of the comments and suggestions given and I can attest it literally is an hour by hour disease and it's just something I do and live it and very rarely complain about it. I know others have situations far worse than mine and I'm grateful for the advanced technology we do have. That doesn't stop the fact that people just aren't educated, period. I know lots have their best intentions but it often can be viewed as rude too. I have to remind myself, "they were just trying to help". The one that just giggles me the most and I also try and re-educate people on when they make comments like "you can't have this, can you?". What most don't realize, I *NEED* sugary things at times to literally live. People have a tendency to think type 1s shouldn't have any sugar and we CAN'T have it, etc. I travel with the Juicy Juice apple juices, fruit snacks, lifesavers, etc as I don't know when I'll have a low BS but I can usually tell. I have no doubt those living with other medical conditions go through the same thing. I try to never assume and re-educate nicely when I can.

I actually can't read the story as the link is broken for me but it sounds very disheartening. I appreciate the viewpoints shared and agree with the many that said if the mom didn't, she should have set expectations and understood Disney's expectations if there was an emergency and reminded the counselors he might not be able to express his low BS.

I hope it can become a teaching moment for herself, son, and others I do indeed feel terrible for the son based on the comments I read. I don't let it hold me back and I travel the world but it can be challenging and I'm an adult. I do sincerely feel for the kiddos but they do learn resiliency.

Heather

 

[sayhello]

Overall I’d say that DCL does…okay. Personally I’d like to see much better understanding of Type 1 Diabetes but to be honest I feel this way about school, day camps, and other places that you’d need someone to care for your kid. Based on experience everywhere else, as the parent I felt it was my responsibility to get the club up to speed and provide them with as much information as possible. I can’t tell from the original account whether the family consulted directly with the kids club while on board – they may have felt they didn’t need to after talking to the Special Needs people in advance. On the other hand I also feel like maybe the CMs could have handled it better, e.g. could they have offered to store his supplies in the staff area for the 30-minute session?

The other part of my job as a parent is teaching my son how to deal with adversity arising from his medical condition – he already knows that most people don’t “get” Type 1 diabetes like we do and that sometimes people may say or do things that are more to do with lack of understanding than anything else. So far any problems we’ve run into have been an opportunity to learn “how can we make this work?” I feel sad that this kid was so defeated by the experience but it seems more like miscommunication than anything else.

I quite agree that a lot of the problem may have been bad communication with the CMs, but in the mother's defense, I believe this was their first cruise ever, not just their first DCL cruise. She thought she'd done everything right by communicating so closely with DCL prior to the cruise. She had no way to know that talking to the onshore folks is generally pretty useless on a cruise. I *hope* this was a learning experience for her, that she needs to be more proactive when they actually are *on* the ship with the folks her kid will interact with.

Sayhello