Medical training recommendations?

[looly]

Although not training, on a related subject.... this company do a marine medical kit, with an accompanying kit for offshore marine environments
http://www.adventuremedicalkits.com/

It cost loads but at least it's in good looking packaging /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[DinghyMan]

Don't buy from st John Supplies - buy direct from S P Services which is where St John buy from, and a lot cheaper.

I was in St John for several years and the best things for your first aid kit are fairly simple stuff; bandages, cleaning stuff that doesn't need water to wash off, cool packs and heat packs. Most of the fancy stuf just gets carried about for years until its out of date.

Have a look through the SP Services site - they also have loads of books if you want a decent medical library to take with you.

No connection other than as a long time customer...

 

[Petronella]

When we went on an extended indepedent Saharan landrover trip with our two young daughters we asked a friendly GP to give us an afternoon's practical course on the things that might be most useful and to recommend what we should take with us.

The result was a hilarious few hours injecting oranges and putting up drips in the back garden but it gave us confidence that we would have some idea of what to do if the worst occurred - which of course it didn't!

We ended up taking pain killers with us plus butterfly clips for cuts, syringes to be sure they were sterile and the basic creams and ointments.

You can't prepare for every eventuality but you can for the most likely mishaps - and those are the easiest to treat.

I would strongly recommend this 'friendly GP' approach, especially if you can find one who has travelled himself.

John

 

[roly_voya]

Speaking as a nurse and trying to offer advice not 'protect' my profession I thing you need to think about the following;

The problem with more advanced first aid is not lack of training but lack of practice. You can learn lots of stuff but if you have never dealt with a medical emergency you are less l;ikely to be able to use that knowledge. The other big problem is assessment, this is not the same as diagnosis but similar, it is the ability to look at a patient and get an idea of not only what might be wrong but how serious it is and what might be the complications. Even with apparently 'simple' problems such as broken bones this can be difficult and when dealing with illnesses where you are interpreting signs and sypmtoms rather than looking at an injury it becomes much more difficult.

Basically this is the difference between a doctor or nurse and a first aided and why you can doo first aid in a week but it take years to do the other. My adice is to doa specialist first aid course which aimed at sailors and will cover the sort of eventualities you might encounter and work within the levels of kit you are likely to have. My caution is that to try and go beyond this might encourage you to try to deal with situations beyond your experience and get into more trouble.

By all means carry antibiotics so that if appropriate you can administer them at the request of a doctor via radio. Stonger pain killers, more dubiose as there is a risk of respiatory arrest and drug reactions that can kill the patient. Again might be worth having but I would not administer a strong opiate without a doctors say-so. Fluids again can be a problem as to be effective they need to be given direct into a vein and there are lots of things that can and do go wrong. Also unless the patient is unable to drink ie unconciose or suffering some injury that prevents them eating and drinking then giving fluids orally is much safer and just as effective.

Conclusion? If you want a first aider aboard, which you should, train up at least two crew and get as much practice as possible. Maybe volunteer to do some work for you local St Johns/red cross branch? But if you want a nurse or doctor aboard you are better off signing one up as crew.

 

[Ariadne]

Get your self a Ship Captains Medical Guide, then go on the appropriate course to get the basic knowledge. Warsash & John Moores (Liverpool) run them for the MN. You don't have to be ships captain to do them either.

Most merchant ships carry no more than an advanced 1st aid kit, basicly the type anybody doing extended cruising would carry + some anibiotics and heavy duty pain killers. The masters & mates only do this course once so they have no more knowledge than you or I. This is why the SCMG has large bits in red writing suggesting to get medical advice via radio ASAP. Its not foolproof but it is good.

 

[franky]

Don,t waste time doing second aid.(first aid is scratches and bumps).Get a body bag,stuff body in with some old chain dump the lot over the side and get on with the sailing.
But Seriously a sailing doc runs a two day course at the Cruising Association.I cannot remember his name but he might help you to put together a medical chest which together with a phone call (sat or cel) to shorebased doc via Falmouth Coastguard will help to stablise the patient until help can be obtained.
I can deal with most medical incidents but what happens if I am the patient.

 

[poter]

!00% agree with what Roland is putting across, it is very true that without the practice you will forget most of what you have learnt in the training session.
I have completed many first aid training courses for diving, medical, work related & even survival in the desert, but I have just completed the HSE 4 day first aid course & had to learn the basics again. I can thoroughly recommend it, this one was held at Bristol College & is available at night school all over the UK & you get a recognised qualification at the end.
IMHO this particular course, or similar, which is basic first aid, is all you really require.

Leave stitching & injections to the pro's, if someone is bleeding in most cases simple pressure will stop the blood flow. Most if not all accidents are preventable so a good look around your boat & sensible precautions are much better than trying to stitch someone up, after the event.

Yes there are medical emergencies such as heart problems etc. but again a really good medical for all onboard before you depart should hopefully catch any symptoms.

Being/getting prepared is half the fun and gives a great sense of satisfaction when you get it right, but don’t go overboard (pun intended)

Fair winds

poter. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif