No one goes on a cruise and intends on getting hurt. In other words, people usually don’t prepare for incidents, from injuries to other sorts of accidents. It’s important to understand and follow the below steps thoroughly to be prepared to perform the necessary actions are a cruise ship injury.
Report the Accident
The very first step to be taken after an incident occurs on a cruise ship is to report the accident to the appropriate authoritative figures. All cruise ships have policies in place and strict guidelines to follow in the event of an accident or injury occurring, but this means everyone must follow this policy. If possible, obtain any evidence or documents of the incident that occurred to ensure zero confusion to be amidst a potentially traumatizing experience.
Think Before Speaking
Cruise line security protocols will usually dictate a follow-up investigation of the incident. While this is done to get a full-fleshed, reliable report published, it’s possible that security personnel or other investigators could be fishing for information that has the potential to be used against you.
Just as with anything else involving the law, anything you do or say can be used against you, and usually will if it prevents one side from losing.
The best route to take is the honest one: lying or misspeaking can lead to further investigating, an overall extended period of time for the injury/incident case to be closed, or worse. Be truthful.
Take Note of Everything
As mentioned earlier, document anything and everything pertaining to the incident. This is important for investigators and other personnel to thoroughly understand all details and get a clear idea of what occurred.
Witnesses are also important. If you know or saw anyone at the time of the incident, do your best to track these people down and request they assist you in the case. Sometimes it’s illegal to refuse to help a case such as this if a witness was at the scene.
Photographs of the incident and personal information of those involved is an absolute must for a case to be prevented or pursued.