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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

First Aid - Be prepared

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glivs
Admiral

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USA
836 Posts

Initially Posted - 12/14/2011 : 08:39:09

Accidents happen. Being prepared to respond is just as important as anticipation and taking steps to prevent them in the first place. Two weeks ago I was abruptly reminded of the inadequacy of our home first aid kit and my out of date skills. Fortunately I had gone through our boat first aid supplies earlier this fall and was able to make do using those until we could get professional help. By the way - the Admiral is recovering rapidly (2nd degree burns on hands, broken hand, sprained ankle.) I've learned a lot these past two weeks and will take a serious look at updating our home and boat first aid supplies, as well as my skills, to be better prepared for whatever surprises may come (hopefully minor) in the future. That is my first New Years resolution. I hope you will consider it as well.

Gerry Livingston, Malletts Bay, VT
"Great Escape" 1989 C-25 SR/WK #5972

Edited by - on

JohnP
Master Marine Consultant

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1520 Posts

Response Posted - 12/14/2011 : 12:52:14

Burns are awfully painful! Here's a trick we use at home.

We keep a living aloe vera plant on our kitchen window sill and use fresh sap from a small cutting as an immediate cure for first or second degree burns!

For example, I burned my right palm trying to move a very hot pot handle on the stove last week. After cooling my hand in cold running water for about a minute, I cut a 1" piece of aloe vera and squeezed out some of the gelatinous sap onto my burn. I kept applying a drop of fresh aloe vera sap every 10 minutes for about an hour. By then there was no more pain or redness, and by the next day there was no evidence of any burn at all.

It's truly amazing. The aloe vera gel from the drug store is much less effective. There's something in the fresh aloe vera sap that literally prevents first or second degree skin burns from turning red and from blistering. All the pain is eliminated, too.

Edited by - on

piseas
Former Treasurer

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USA
2017 Posts

Response Posted - 12/14/2011 : 13:28:07

Gerry, sorry to hear about your wife. You suggestion is a good one and every sailor should have at minimum a basic first aide kit which includes some remedy for burns. That was one of the first things I picked up when I got my boat.
Hope your wife has speedy recovery.

Steve A

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 12/14/2011 : 19:56:15

Sorry to hear about your wife, how did the accident happen? We hope she's doing well.

We keep a fairly comprehensive first aid kit on the boat and one in the truck (or car, it gets moved to whatever we're taking if we're going on a trip). Aloe is a good addition, and I keep a plastic tube of gelled aloe in the kit (not as good as fresh, but better than nothing). I also keep packets of 2% lidocaine anesthetic which is good at knocking down the pain until you can get professional help. You can buy it from REI. We also have lots of dressings including menstrual pads which are good for large wounds. We also have glucose tablets, sutures, a lighter, scissors, Tylenol, Aleve, Advil (well, all generic equivalents), anti-diarheals, sea sickness (several different varieties of them, including ginger Altoids, ginger ale, ginger cookies, etc.) sunscreen, cooling spray for sunburns (Solarcaine), and lots of other stuff I'm forgetting.

Rita & I have taken first aid classes, as well as CPR, but we're out of date on both.

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redviking
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1771 Posts

Response Posted - 12/16/2011 : 06:57:15

I suggest this book http://www.amazon.com/Adventure-Medical-Kits-Comprehensive-Medicine/dp/B000WY29LM

My onboard med kit - which resembles a 3rd world ER including sutures and Lidocain and all sorts of mega pain killers and various essentials like vaginal medicines and ear drops, etc... - all came from that book and were prescribed by the doc. I like the http://www.oceanmedix.com/?_siteid=oceanmedix&_sessid=3626ac108f47d8a77ddd05181db68514&action=sku&sku=cOM-marine3000 med kit, although most can do with the 1000 model.

Silver Sulfadiazine 1 is the best for burns.

I got a meathook from my anchor pin retaining cable and the finger involved got really infected. Mupirocin ointment 2% and some Cipro took care of that. Knowing how to manage your health care costs - priceless.

sten

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glivs
Admiral

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USA
836 Posts

Response Posted - 12/16/2011 : 07:05:07

The Admiral is doing very well. Thank you for asking. Given the accident did happen, she was very lucky her injuries were not far worse.

"How did the accident happen?"
Apparently Les approached our woodstove, stumbled and fell towards it (I was outside but by chance walked in within probably a minute of the accident). She obviously reached out to break her fall but the details are unclear. She had 1st degree burns on both palms and two 2nd degree burns on the back of her left hand (~10%) and a broken finger (I originally thought two). From what I saw and her burns it appears she reached for the wall with her left hand but instead jammed her fingers into the side of the cast iron humidifier that sits on top of the stove and then twisted her ankle in the fall.

In trying to dress her burns I discovered the cold pack in our first aid kit was non-functional, the sterile pads too small to cover the back of her hand (the epidermis had instantly peeled away in two patches), the tape was far too adhesive, and the scissors useless. And this was a relatively expensive name-brand "home" kit. I since added/replaced/updated all items I thought should be included but David mentioned a couple I had not thought of. Thanks. I need to now update the boat and car kits.

I apologize for going into some detail - I simply wanted to convey that everyone should examine their first aid kits very carefully - so any suggestions/feedback is welcomed.

RedViking - I agree, silver sulfadiazine is a miracle drug for burns...and thanks for the reference suggestion.

Edited by - glivs on 12/16/2011 07:11:45

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9081 Posts

Response Posted - 12/16/2011 : 07:28:13

This is good stuff... Time to do an inventory.

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Merrick
Navigator

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USA
192 Posts

Response Posted - 12/16/2011 : 09:07:35

Glad you did this topic, something I've been meaning to do and haven't is check first aid supplies. My main thing is to have at least some basics. Last summer on my son's power boat I walked around the stern and my foot hit the prop (not running obviously) causing a 1" slice across the top. We did not even have a bandage on board so ended up wrapping it in a towel and heading to a nearby hospital for stitches. Not having supplies can turn a small problem into a large one and being on a sailboat where it might take a couple hours or more to get to shore makes it even more important.

Edited by - on

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 12/16/2011 : 11:03:12

Maybe we can compile a list of what we think should be in a "basic", "intermediate" and "advanced" first aid kit and post it either as a sticky or make a new category on the bar at the left for "Recommended Gear" or something like that.

I'd call my boat kit low intermediate, somewhat more comprehensive than my car kit, which I'd call a well stocked basic kit. With the boat kit I can do everything up to stitches, but I don't have a hard inventory that I can check against, and there may be holes in my kit I've never thought of (like the silver sulfadiazine stuff).

I am no longer a firefighter, but my office mate is a voluteer EMT and a sailor, so I'm sure he'd be willing to vet our kits, or possibly one or more of our members are a trauma nurse or doc who could advise?

Edited by - delliottg on 12/16/2011 11:04:25

JimGo
Admiral

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USA
962 Posts

Response Posted - 12/20/2011 : 07:01:09

I think the idea of a few "suggested" kits is a good idea. Perhaps a "daysailor's kit", a "weekender's kit", and a "cruiser's kit". I don't think we need exact product recommendations or quantites, but rather suggested items.

Before anyone points it out, yes, nasty accidents can happen to daysailors too. But there's a different level of "independence" on the part of weekenders, and again with cruisers, at least in my mind, and as you move up the chain, your ability to handle difficult medical issues needs to improve accordingly.

Edited by - on

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9081 Posts

Response Posted - 12/20/2011 : 07:12:59

One of my daughters is an ER/level 1 trauma center nurse and her husband is a teaching paramedic. I'll ask them for suggestions at a few levels such as:

Home
Car
Boat for day-sailing
Boat for inshore cruising (within six hours of medical help)
(I'm assuming "off-shore"--days or even weeks from help--is beyond the needs of this group, although I know people who cross oceans.)

I'm sure I could get their comments on that or whatever somebody submits.

Edited by - Stinkpotter on 12/20/2011 07:16:16

Ape-X
Admiral

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USA
662 Posts

Response Posted - 12/20/2011 : 07:54:10

a couple of google searches for already assembled information:

http://sailing.about.com/od/lifeonasailboat/a/First-Aid-For-Boaters.htm

book:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/mca/mcga-seafarer_information/mcga-dqs_st_shs_seafarer_information-medical/mcga-dqs_st_shs_ships_capt_medical_guide.htm

And commercially available pre-assembled kits. I saw an ad / write-up on likely Sail magazine for these: Nice site that gives inventory as well
http://www.marmed.com/poseidon.shtml
Poseiden is largest, Odyssey for being closer to help.

Edited by - Ape-X on 12/20/2011 07:54:37

JimGo
Admiral

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USA
962 Posts

Response Posted - 12/20/2011 : 09:04:33

Very interesting links - thanks!

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