About cars being loaded into a non-air conditioned carriage on eurostar, temperatures intolerable, I collapsed?

[herbiwhore]

I've been complaining to le shuttle about this. they say nothing was done wrong and that all procedures were correctly followed - i just cannot believe this is the case.
facts of the matter are we were loaded onto a carriage last august, temperatures reached at least 40 degrees c with no air movement. at the time i was 20 weeks pregnant and after about 5 minutes of being loaded onto the train, i started to feel strange and when I got out of the car I collapsed in the heat, unable to move etc, flat on my back, could not stand up. i had to be carried by my arms and legs by other passengers to an air conditioned carriage. crew members couldnt really do anything but bring a bottle of water there seemed to be no first aid provision at all. an off duty nurse looked after me and she was amazing, laid me out in the back of her car, she was lovely, but it didnt feel right that the actual organisation had no provision for this eventuality.
i think this is really disgraceful and dangerous - customer services at le shuttle have said that 'crew followed all procedures' and that they are 'sorry i am not happy' and i have been issued with a £30 token.
its really not about the money - i have said I will not accept it. it was a horrible experience and I genuinely don't want others to go through it. there seems to be very little transparency of accountability. i've asked for a copy of their policy and procedures, health and safety guidelines, first aid policy etc and heard nothing - am i being unreasonable to think that policy and procedure could not have possibly been followed?

[herbiwhore]

Sorry title should read Le Shuttle, euro tunnel whatever the bloody thing is called

[DisappointedOne]

I assume the air con being broken in your carriage was an unusual occurrence?

[saoirse31]

so you fainted due to heat. crew got u water. Other people helped. not really seeing the major incident here.

[DisappointedOne]

I don't expect the air con fails that often. Isn't it only about a 30 minute journey? I wouldn't expect them to have a full medical team on board just in case their air con breaks down.

[WhoNickedMyName]

What exactly did you want them to do, or what do you think they should have done?

[NerrSnerr]

I'm a nurse and would have done what the public/ staff did. Get you somewhere cooler and give you water. What more did you expect them to do?

[ilovesooty]

I think you're blowing it out of proportion. I'd hardly expect a full first aid team to be in place for a journey as short as that.

[ivykaty44]

What would you like the company to do?

For example I was in tesco and a man collapsed, a first aider customer and myself started to help, then a fpdoctor turned up followed by a tesco member of staff.

The nurse helped you and was amazing, this would be better than a first aider from the company.

There is no law in working environment for upper temperature. Do you want all carriages to be air conditioned or the choice of having air condition?

[googoodolly]

Fainting is horrible but I'm not really sure what you expected them to do. They took you somewhere cool and gave you water - what much else is there to do for someone who's fainted?

[RolodexOfHate]

How do you know that the temperature reached 40 degrees? Is there a thermometer in the carriage?

[MadisonMontgomery]

I don't get it - could you not just put the a/c on in your car?

[GlitzAndGigglesx]

I've fainted on public transport before in the summer when pregnant and had members of the public help including an off duty doctor who was amazing. I think all appropriate procedures were followed in your case. I really don't understand some people on here. You get an apology and compensation offered but are still not happy. What more can they do? You won't be the first or last person to faint there

[DisappointedOne]

You're not allowed to have the engine running while in the shuttle. It's a sealed carriage - carbon monoxide poisoning from exhaust fumes, anyone?

[Dognado]

I'm guessing OP didn't want to be in a situation where she was trapped in 40 degree heat. Understandable.

I actually don't think its ok. i was on a UK train journey last year with failed air con and they brought bottles of water around. It was no way near that hot and they didn't wait for somebody to faint first. Funnily enough.

Also, yes they should have trained first aiders you can't get off a moving train.

If you'd written this as a reverse, OP, you would have got opposite responses. Probably from the same people.

[MNpostingbot]

Sounds a little drama llama, it's 30 mins without air con, you aren't going to run out of air. They did what they could.

Bad luck it happened to someone who was pregnant, but I can't see what more they can do? admit their mistake and since they can't promise it won't happen again to start filling the tunnel in immediately to make sure nobody else has to suffer 30 mins without AC?

[LeBearPolar]

Can you clarify more precisely what you expected them to do that they didn't do?

[RightSideOfWrong]

Dognado Train companies don't have to do that, though, they just do it so that you won't complain about the A/C being broken. It's a lot cheaper for them to do a deal with water companies and give out water for free than to refund tickets.

[Dognado]

Right - this isn't about what companies have to do, it's about what's appropriate levels of customer service. OP was a customer here, she had paid for the service. They weren't doing her a favour.

[WipsGlitter]

So the bit where the cars go was too hot, you fainted and were moved to an A/C bit of the train. Had you asked if you could move to a carriage?

As pp said, can you outline what you think should have happened?

[Dognado]

If I was the OP I would be expecting an apology, a recognition that they should have qualified first aiders and an understanding that the conditions were not appropriate for passengers.

I've transported animals from the US and back before and the (good) cargo company make sure they're not kept in temperatures as high as that, that they have fresh water to drink at all times. Not sure why people shouldn't be afforded the same courtesy.

[Dognado]

I love this thread 'OP, for goodness sake, other passengers carried your pregnant body by your arms and legs to somewhere cooler when the temperature reached 40 degrees, what more do you expect'??? Classic MN recently.

[WipsGlitter]

She had paid for the service - of being transported back from France not from them protecting her from fainting because she got too hot!

[FresherThanYou]

I don't get it - could you not just put the a/c on in your car?
WTAF?!?!!!! Please no-one ever do something so stupid, you will kill people in the carriage

[Dognado]

She had paid for the service - of being transported back from France not from them protecting her from fainting because she got too hot!

You could equally say you just pay for a meal in a restaurant but it would be just as stupid a thing to say. You pay for your meal and to eat it in comfortable and safe surroundings. She paid to travel with a reasonable and comfortable level of safety and they presumably have a duty of care towards their passengers. This is about basic levels of service in a difficult situation.