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What should the medical kit contain?

What should the medical kit contain?

Putting together a ship’s medical kit is a lot like preparing a boat for a long voyage. It is about envisaging all the scenarios that could affect the health of you and your crew, and making sure you are ready with the skills and equipment to address them. Pip Hare, for Yachting World, runs through what to consider for the medical kit, particularly if you are heading offshore for an extended period.To get more news about IFAK, you can visit rusuntacmed.com official website.

Before each passage you’ll need to assess how far from help you’ll be at any given time and what level of medical care would be required on board to keep a casualty safe and stable until professional help can be accessed. This is something people often put to the back of their minds, I’m guilty of the same, always addressing how we can repair our boats, but not taking the same level of precaution with the humans sailing them.

A pragmatic approach is essential: we need to plan for the very worst but on the understanding that it is unlikely to happen, in the same way we carry a liferaft and assemble grab bags. We also need to accept the limitations of our abilities to deliver all medical care on board, but keep that risk in perspective. A good medical kit, support and training are the best way to manage the risk of getting ill or injured at sea.

Get trained and checked
Before setting off on an ocean voyage, I would recommend at least one member of the crew undertakes advanced medical training, appropriate for those who are not able to access professional medical help for days. If sailing double-handed then both co-skippers should take the training and if solo, special techniques to self-treatment will be needed.

The ability to treat and manage injuries and illness is in part down to your ability to diagnose problems early and prevent deterioration. When faced with needles, scalpels and the fragility of the human body even some of your strongest crew members may struggle, so get used to handling the kit and practicing techniques early.

Advanced training can be acquired through specialist offshore medical companies. A three-day advanced course with a non-marine based company will also teach you the skills to use the contents of your medical box, but may lack the context of patient management in a wet, moving, cramped environment.
Shore support
If you are not a medical professional it is well worth having a dedicated support service ashore who you can turn to for advice in an emergency. With many boats now carrying satcoms, it is sensible to have a medic on-hand who you can call and send pictures to if treating more advanced problems. This could be a friend, or there are specialist companies who offer on-call services for a fee. The medic ashore should have details of your crew and any known medical conditions, an inventory of your medical kit, and a copy of the same handbook you have aboard.

Your kit
Central to your kit should be a good medical handbook, I recommend finding one specifically written for sailing. Note this is not a first aid manual, it is a medical handbook so it has a greater depth of information.

It’s a good idea to organize your larger medical kit into smaller bags or boxes to target specific areas to avoid having to unpack the whole thing in an emergency. Keep a smaller day-to-day first aid kit at hand, regularly replenished, for minor problems such as headaches, milder seasickness and small cuts.
Analgesics
Every first aid kit will have some sort of pain relief. Start with paracetamol and ibuprofen, have a day-to-day supply in the first aid kit with top-ups of stronger medication in your medical kit.

For extended periods offshore consider prescription painkillers for more acute problems. The amount and type will depend on how big your crew is and how quickly you could get a casualty ashore. A good scenario to consider is broken bones, a patient that can be splinted and immobilized for a 2-3 day passage will have lesser requirements than a double-handed sailor mid-ocean.


by freeamfva | 2022-12-19 15:44 | Comments(0)

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by freeamfva