A six-year-old British boy is fighting for his life after being found unconscious at the bottom of a swimming pool on Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas.
According to reports, the young boy was found at the bottom of one of the main outdoor pools on the ship as it sailed by the Breton coast yesterday.
The boy was pulled from the water and the ship’s on-board doctor carried out CPR and managed to get his heart beating again.
But the boy needed more treatment, so the ship sailed towards land to meet with an emergency helicopter which took the boy to hospital in Brest where he is reported to be in a ‘grave’ condition.
He was travelling with his parents on the ship, which had left Southampton on Sunday for six-night trip across western Europe.
Royal Caribbean has issued a statement saying its ‘Care Team’ is providing support to the guest’s family "and our thoughts and prayers are with them".
The incident is likely to spark another debate about whether cruise ships should employ lifeguards for their on board pools.
"In our view, there is no excuse not to assign lifeguards to cruise ship pools," said cruise lawyer Jim Walker today.
"The costs is minimal and the need is substantial. Yes, parents need to supervise their children but cruise lines need to exercise their corporate responsibility to supervise the pools, enforce pool rules, and be ready to perform CPR if necessary."
In the last year, four children aged six or under have drowned or nearly drowned in pools on the ships of major cruise lines.
In February of this year, a four-year old drowned on a Florida-bound Norwegian Cruise ship.
Afterwards, the NCL Facebook page drew thousands of comments from people questioning why there is a lack of lifeguards in the cruise industry.
However a sizable number of posts also noted the incident took place in an adult only pool, reiterating the need for parental supervision.
Last October a young boy drowned in a swimming pool on a Carnival cruise ship and just days later, Disney Cruise Line announced it would have lifeguards at all family pools in its four-ship fleet.
