The first female bosun in franchise history isn’t taking her critics laying down.
Malia White has responded to backlash over her handling of Hannah Ferrier’s panic attack on last night’s Below Deck Mediterranean, clarifying the proper protocols for such a situation onboard a yacht.
Taking to Instagram following the episode, Malia made it clear that she had no ill will towards any of her co-workers and that she was just trying to follow the appropriate steps. “Let me clear the air,” she posted. “Medical laws are different at sea and for good reason. NO crew member is allowed to self- administer drugs prescription or not while on a vessel at sea. We are CREW and always ‘on duty’ and our primary goal at sea is to ensure safety of all passengers.”
“Mental health issues are a big deal and that’s why we have proper procedures in place,” she continued. “We all read & sign a drugs & alcohol policy before joining any boat- this is VERY CLEARLY laid out. If any crew member suffers from a mental health condition that they require medication for they must disclose that to the Captain BEFORE signing onto the boat. They then under the supervision of Captain or Officer can be given medication as needed and evaluated to see if they can still stand duty.”
She explained, “While at sea the Captain is the medical person in charge- any and all medical decisions MUST go through them. Taking any sedative while on duty is completely illegal and could cost myself, the officers and Captain Sandy all of our licensing. Not to mention possible jail time and fines if an incident occurred & a crew member was found to have been on something without authorization.”
“Reporting any incident especially one we witness is all of our job,” she continued. “Yachting is my career- I’m not here to worry about plot twists & TV drama- I’m here to do my job and learn how to become a Captain.”
“Maritime laws are in place for a reason. All of you expressing your hate- think of it in this perspective… if an emergency was to take place in the middle of the night how would you feel if your crew (the people trained to handle the situation & keep you safe) were on drugs?” she pointed out. “There are terribly sad stories of crew losing their lives or accidents happening due to unsupervised drug use. The severity of it is why it has become Maritime Law. It’s there to protect both crew & passengers. Reporting someone shouldn’t have a negative stigma – it can save lives!”
Malia clearly isn’t interested in hearing any feedback about her handling of the medical side of things but she did take a moment to directly apologize to her co-star Hannah Ferrier. “Side note – I do apologize for calling Hannah’s panic attack a ‘freak out’ that was unprofessional and poor wording,’ she said. “I am a huge advocate for Mental Health which is why I just want things done by the book.”
A quick look at Malia’s social media and you’ll see that while there is still some mixed reaction, most viewers are still Team Malia after this week.
As previously reported, this week’s Below Deck Mediterranean was a doozy as it also saw Captain Sandy Yawn fire Chef Kiko over his disastrous Vegas night performance.
