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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

289 replies

herbiwhore · 11/05/2015 14:03

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?

OP posts:
CloserToFiftyThanTwenty · 11/05/2015 14:35

I don't understand why you are writing about this now, OP, not last year Confused

Sheitgeist · 11/05/2015 14:35

Can't believe the OP is getting a hard time like this... she's made it clear that the service le eurowhatsit provided was unacceptable and wanted them to assure her they would fix the problem, as she wouldn't want anyone else to have suffered as she did.
It's not about what they should have done on this occasion, but that it shouldn't have happened at all.
Eurothingy isn't cheap, why should customers have to tolerate 40 degree heat and broken aircon?

YorkieButtonsizeMen · 11/05/2015 14:36

First off yanbu at all and I guess this is the same competitive not caring that has proliferated on MN recently.

The fact is there were apparently no emergency procedures on board. You could have had a heart attack for all they knew. What would happen in those circumstances - the same thing?

I don't know why they allowed the carriage to reach that temperature but if it is to do with air con then they are totally at fault.

If you are in those sorts of temps on holiday, you would have access to taps, cool baths, fans, aircon - all sorts of measures you could take.

On a train, under the sea, not so much.

It's unacceptable and I would seek legal advice if I were you.

Runningupthathill82 · 11/05/2015 14:37

Sorry, I don't get what else they could have done.
I get that you fainted because it was too hot, and that wasn't pleasant, but it was hardly a full scale 999 emergency.
Also, people all over the world cope in 40c heat, without air con, all the time. Indeed, not all vehicles even have air con in the first place.
If I were you I'd chalk it up to experience and always keep water in the car in future.

YorkieButtonsizeMen · 11/05/2015 14:37

Fresher, could you explain please about the aircon? - I didn't realise that was a dangerous thing to do. (not that I've ever done it)

YorkieButtonsizeMen · 11/05/2015 14:38

but it was hardly a full scale 999 emergency.

Where did she say it was?

SistersofPercy · 11/05/2015 14:40

Yorkie, carbon monoxide fumes from your car will kill the entire carriage....

oddfodd · 11/05/2015 14:44

There's nothing else they could have done. I'm sure they do have people trained in first aid but they would have done exactly what happened - got you to a carriage with aircon and brought you water.

You're in the tunnel for 30 minutes. If you'd been really ill, there would have been an ambulance waiting at Calais.

Or do you (from your title) mean that they should use any carriages where the aircon isn't working?

Unless someone has a physical disability which means they can't move, then you can walk through the train.

BitOutOfPractice · 11/05/2015 14:44

Yorkie erm...cars exhaust fumes contain carbon monoxide which is poisonous. (YOu must have heard of people killing themselves in their cars using the exhaust fumes) To be running an engine in a confined place like a EuroTunnel train carriage would be very dangerous - risking poisoning everyone in the carriage.

slightlyeggstained · 11/05/2015 14:44

Isn't there an obligation to provide for the possibility of a full scale 999 emergency? 30 minutes away from any help is well beyond emergency response times for e.g. a heart attack, if Le Shuttle are so ill prepared that they can't deal with a fairly mild first aid request well, then why would they be better with a very serious one?

YorkieButtonsizeMen · 11/05/2015 14:48

Oh God sorry, forgot that you need the engine on for the AC to work.

I'm an eejit. [without prejudice] Grin

Original poster
herbiwhore · 11/05/2015 14:49

slightly that's what I was thinking - what if it had been more serious?
And no, I do not believe cars should have been loaded into a carriage with faulty air con.

OP posts:
PickleSarnie · 11/05/2015 14:49

Also, people all over the world cope in 40c heat, without air con, all the time

Riiiiight, so because other people have it worse, then the OP should just put up and shut up with the misery of being trapped underground in a stifling hot tin can. And think herself lucky that she had the pleasure of paying for the "priviledge"?

As someone says above, they won't transport livestock in those conditions, why on earth should a fare paying person expect to just put up with it. If nothing else, a decent apology and an explanation of what measures they'll put in place to prevent someone else from having to put up with it would have been nice.

Kerberos · 11/05/2015 14:54

In the kindest and most gentle way I'm going to suggest you are over thinking this. Last August is an awfully long time ago to still be as angry as your OP makes out.

Really think about how you can let this one go.

oddfodd · 11/05/2015 14:55

Again, what first aid provision did you want? You'd fainted, they brought you water.

They have first aid trained staff and fire fighters on board every train.

ilovesooty · 11/05/2015 14:55

So what do you actually want done? When did you begin your correspondence with them and when did you last hear from them? Last August seems a long time for this to be dragging on.

Dognado · 11/05/2015 14:56

I'm assuming OP is posting this now as she's been in discussions with Eurostar that have got her nowhere. Glad the sane people have turned up now.

oddfodd · 11/05/2015 14:58

Sane = agree with OP?

Riiiight, dognado :o

TinklyLittleLaugh · 11/05/2015 14:58

God, 40c, no air movement, trapped under the sea...... I'm feeling a bit woozy just thinking about it, but then I am a bit of a fainter. Totally agree they should not have loaded cars on to carriages with broken air con. What about small babies or the frail and elderly?

sparechange · 11/05/2015 15:00

slightly
So they need to have an A&E department set up at 10 minute intervals along the tunnel, just in case there is a 999 procedure?
Or do you accept that there are some places there you aren't going to get full medical responses. And a metal tube underneath the sea is one of those places...

Original poster
herbiwhore · 11/05/2015 15:01

I'm still talking about it because its taken them 2 months to respond to each email i've sent them asking for information - I would like to know what system they have to know about air con in a carriage, what they do if it dosesnt work and not load cars in. it was a very distressing experience, I'm sure some of you would have thought it was great fun and not at all a problem - but my 4 year old was distressed seeing me in that condition and if it could have been avoided, it should have been. I think they should be transparent about policy and procedure, share the documentation with me so I can see it and assure me it will not happen again. I saw no evidenc of anyone trained in first aid whatsoever during my experience.

OP posts:
oddfodd · 11/05/2015 15:02

It seems to me that a lot of people on this thread haven't actually been on the Shuttle.

So I'll explain for your benefit. You drive onto the train and park very close behind the car in front. There are 3-4 cars in each carriage, each sealed from the next to prevent the spread of fire etc. There is room to walk alongside the cars and doors between the carriages. If the aircon is broken in your carriage, you can walk to the next one. You can walk all through the train if you want but as the journey is only 35 mins, it's probably not worth doing.

There are no facilities other than toilet facilities - no bar, no shop, no seating.

The staff on board are fully trained in emergency evacuation and other emergency procedures.

While the OP's experience was unpleasant, it wasn't an emergency.

Original poster
herbiwhore · 11/05/2015 15:03

And its very unmumsnetty to say this - but some of these responses are really upsetting me - why does it have to be like this on here? its such a shame Sad

OP posts:
Aermingers · 11/05/2015 15:05

The other passengers weren't fainting. So it was probably more to do with pregnancy = not their fault.

AlbrechtDurer · 11/05/2015 15:06

I won't be travelling on Le Shuttle on the basis of this. I am planning to travel to France with my dogs and thought that this would be the most convenient and least stressful ways to get there. 30 mins at those temperature would kill them.