March 13, 2020

Future Care Global Medical Director Speaks on Managing the Response to COVID-19 at Connecticut Maritime Convention Lunch in CT USA

Jersey City, NJ, March 2, 2020. – Dr. Arthur Diskin, Future Care’s Global Medical Director , spoke at the Connecticut Maritime Convention (CMA) Lunch on February 27 held at Water’s Edge at Giovanni’s II, CT. Dr. Diskin’s presentation was specifically directed to assisting the maritime industry in responding to the threat of COVID-19 onboard ship as well as recommended preventative and screening measures to be taken before boarding. The presentation was enthusiastically received with positive feedback from more than 60 attendees.

“Avoiding close contact with people suffering from acute respiratory infections – 6 feet minimum and frequent hand-washing with hand sanitizers, especially after direct contact with ill people or their environment.” Dr. Diskin explained the general principles to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection.

As the Global Medical Director at Future Care, Dr. Diskin oversees the global medical case management team and leads the assessment of complex cases. Dr. Diskin serves as an expert in the areas of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, Maritime Medicine, and Risk Management including issues related to crew medical care and public health, especially outbreak prevention and mitigation.

Dr. Diskin provided the audience with the latest updates on the global COVID-19 crisis, including the number of confirmed cases, mortality rate, transmission, disease treatment and prevention. Dr. Diskin also discussed about important protocols that shipowners should follow to prevent the COVID-19 transmission at sea.

Prior to join Future Care, Dr. Diskin was the Medical Director at Carnival Cruises from 1990 to 2006, and was Global Chief Medical Officer at Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (in charge of public health) from 2008 to 2016. During his tenure at Royal Caribbean, Dr. Diskin successfully managed numerous cases of virus infections at sea, including Norovirus, Legionella and Ebola.

Dr. Diskin urged everyone to keep healthy and stay away from infectious diseases through:

  • Obtaining flu vaccination
  • plenty of sleep
  • regular exercise
  • Eating healthy
  • Maintaining medical treatment for all personal chronic conditions Compliance with all medications
  • Staying home if sick

 

The attendees of this CMA luncheon including Capt. Miguel Jardiel and Bella Hua from Foremost Group, Capt. Mohan Muppidi from Fleet Management, Michael Stern from Rubin, Fiorella, Friedman & Mercante, Ole Schroder from Scorpio Group, and many other CMA members and non-members. Gordon Cooper, Director of US Business Development and Yuki Yu, Senior Manager of Future Care also attended the event.