We are celebrating World Kidney Day, an awareness day created to remind us all about the importance of the kidneys as part of our overall health. It is quite common for the Club claims teams to see cases of kidney issues in crew onboard, some of which are serious enough to merit debarkation and even surgery for treatment.
In one recent case, despite the best efforts of physicians, a crew member was diagnosed with kidney stones that could not be removed. The crew member was provided pain relief and repatriated for follow up treatment. The case, which evolved over a few months, reached costs of USD 35,000 and resulted in some disruption to the ship's schedule.
Therefore, with the potential risks involved, we thought we would take a closer look at the kidneys with help from Crew Health partner Red Square Medical.