Ocean medical kits and willing pharmacy S coast UK

[NFCN]

Dear all

Am planning a get away from July - a year's Atlantic circuit - and am looking at medical kits and the drugs to go in them. Looking around there are some options, from the top end supplied by MSOS which will cost £2k + with drugs included:

https://www.msos.org.uk/medical-kits.html

To other contenders like Seamed, who will do a reasonable compromise (ARC module) for about £400 less drugs

http://www.bluewatersupplies.com/smmodules.htm

and more basic, but good first aid kits like this one at £200:

http://evaq8.co.uk/MEDICAL-GRAB-BAG...MIrYK9u8HI2QIVg73tCh3m6wDlEAQYASABEgLSXPD_BwE

Does anyone have any other options? I'm also keen on any views as to whether anyone knows any pharmacies around Gosport who would supply the necessary drugs to someone proving ownership of a yacht with YM(Ocean) certificate, or sailing doctors in the area who know broadly what to prescribe?

Many thanks

Nick

 

[RobbieW]

You could try Doc Thomson at Blackthorn Surgery in Hamble, 023 8045 3110. I think he has done this in the past - no doubt for a fee

 

[Gadget257]

I cannot help with the pharmaceuticals, but your local chemist may be able to advise on the best way to obtain them (e.g. recommend a sailing friendly doctor).

Why don't you make up your own First Aid Kit. If you compare the content lists found in publications and online and then compare with some first aid kits on Amazon or Ebay you'll find most of the contents are already there and you'll just have to purchase the few items which are not part of the proprietary kit (e.g. dental kit, forceps, Sam Splint, airways). Notwithstanding the "drugs" you should be able to create a robust ocean kit for around £100.

There is no point having the Ocean First Kit without the knowledge to use its contents. The Ship's Captains Medical Guide is free as a PDF online at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-ship-captains-medical-guide. Though I would recommend Oxford Handbook of Expedition and Wilderness Medicine 2/e (Flexicover) (Oxford Medical Handbooks) as it covers it all including make First Aid Kits. (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Handbook-E...preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch)

 

[KellysEye]

>There is no point having the Ocean First Kit without the knowledge to use its contents. The Ship's Captains Medical Guide is free as a PDF online at https://www.gov.uk/government/public...-medical-guide.

That's what we carried. We sourced our own medical kit after doing the RYAs first aid course. It teaches you all the drugs needed for different medical conditions, including broken bones, and the medical kit required. What I found interesting is kitchen roll is sterile out of the pack so can be used to stop bleeding, cling film is sterile out of the pack and after applying Flamzene cream it can be used to cover a cut. I would recommend you and a crew member do the course, then you will recognise symptoms and know what to do. What we did then is go to see our doctor and told him we were going long distance sailing away from any medical facilities, then we gave him the RYA list, and he prescribed some drugs and we bought the rest. The medical kit needed can be bought at a large pharmacy. It is cheaper the buying a medical kit. A RYA sea survival course is also worth doing.

 

[Roberto]

Not related to the kit in particular, but for non medics it might be useful to prepare a sort of template/sheet/email... whatever with all the elements which might be needed by a distant doctor to evaluate the medical conditions; this can be done before calling/emailing the doctor (and can also help to understand locally the gravity of what is going on).

We have one, put together from various publications, essentially:
patient age, weight, sex, cronic conditions, etc,
passage info (duration, position, possible ports of call etc)
symptoms, type of pain, etc
hypothesis about diagnosis (ex "exactly like this and that at page Xyz of the ship s captain medical guide"
drugs, available and already subministered

a section for the more serious cases:
lost senses? amnesia? breathing difficulties? heartbeat? reactions to different stimuli (eyes, movement, speech, etc)

We have prepared an email template with all these fields, we once used it for a simple (though invalidating) sinusitis, we filled the blanks and deleted all the unnecessary details, just sent an email to the medical center, 20min later received the answer with the treatment, quick and efficient, we sent control updates during the following couple of days until everything was going better.

 

[capnsensible]

Couple of things from my own experiences of living onboard and crossing oceans....

Absolutely agree that formal training for non medical people is tops.

It is easy to carry too much stuff rather than too little. Beware of expiry dates on medicines etc and be ruthless in ditching unused lotions and potions. We have also run commercial boats for many years and been inspected to conform with that!

In an Atlantic circuit, you are mebbe once or twice going to be max two weeks from proper medical care. I put effort into covering that rather than being Dr Spock exploring unknown universes. Plenty of the things you need in The Canaries, the Windies and The Azores.

Good luck with your trip!

 

[capnsensible]

As a by the way thing, toothache can be a difficult thing over a couple of weeks. Good idea to have a check up for you and crew a couple of months before you go.

I'm dong another transat in two weeks. Decided a dodgy filling needed attention so have actually been this lunchtime for a booked appointment to get it done. Jobs a gudden. :encouragement:

 

[Heckler]

As a by the way thing, toothache can be a difficult thing over a couple of weeks. Good idea to have a check up for you and crew a couple of months before you go.

I'm dong another transat in two weeks. Decided a dodgy filling needed attention so have actually been this lunchtime for a booked appointment to get it done. Jobs a gudden. :encouragement:

Ive suffered twice in the last year with infected molars. Once in Gib, went to see a young man in Main St. Xray, diagnosed and prescription for amoxycilin ... £30 plus about £4 for the tabs, a deal.
Back home similar, Welsh NHS, local dentist disappeared so NHS Wales Direct sent me to Rhyl, 38 miles away, Xray diag, amoxycilin tabs, go back a week later and take it out. Both infections agony, hot salty water as per NHS dentist instructions at first forget it. Point of my story? If I was off across the Atlantic, a supply of amoxycilin would be paramount!

 

[geem]

Ive suffered twice in the last year with infected molars. Once in Gib, went to see a young man in Main St. Xray, diagnosed and prescription for amoxycilin ... £30 plus about £4 for the tabs, a deal.
Back home similar, Welsh NHS, local dentist disappeared so NHS Wales Direct sent me to Rhyl, 38 miles away, Xray diag, amoxycilin tabs, go back a week later and take it out. Both infections agony, hot salty water as per NHS dentist instructions at first forget it. Point of my story? If I was off across the Atlantic, a supply of amoxycilin would be paramount!

Another really good product to carry is Flamazene. Excellent burns cream. Pretty handy if you burn yourself in the galley. Our GP wouldnt prescribe it as they he said why do you need a burn cream on a boat? We ended up getting a private prescription. Used a couple of times. Boiling water burn and a nasty rope burn. Instant relief and quick healing.

 

[duncan99210]

Before we headed off, we put together three boxes of 'medical' stuff. One box contained the every day pills, potions and lotions (over the counter remedies for most common minor illnesses). The second had our prescription medicines in it (ie routine drugs taken on a daily basis). The final box was filled with various dressings, splints and the like and is designated as the 'major incident' box: designed to cope with large cuts, broken bones etc. Finally, there's the first aid pouch for day to day cuts and scrapes.
You might want to consider having a few military style first field dressings on board. They're great for treating large wounds: easy to apply and very absorbent.
All of the above is aimed at looking after ourselves until we can get more definitive help. If we'd been going further afield, we'd have discussed where we were heading with our GP friend, asked her advice about additional medicines and asked her to write us a private prescription for them so that we could buy them from the pharmacy. Note that if you're doing this, whether with a doctor friend or your GP, any prescription will be a private one and you will have to pay the current market price for the drugs.
Final point. In many countries pharmacies can sell you drugs that are prescription only in UK, such as some antibiotics. So if you've got a list you may find that a Spanish pharmacy can supply you whereas a UK one couldn't. However, that generally doesn't apply to painkillers, which tend to be more strictly controlled. Codeine for example can be bought over the counter in UK whereas it is prescription only in Spain and Greece.

 

[AndrewB]

Don't forget the sat phone. In a major emergency, rescue services will put you in touch with medical help, but it also helps to have arranged with a GP you can call for advice.

The must-have for me was a heavy-duty painkiller. I had a few tabs of dihydrocodeine which were invaluable when I broke two fingers.

If you are intending to visit areas where malaria is an issue (some parts of South America on an extended Atlantic circuit), get advice on what prophylactic to take. Beware Lariam - I took for a while once but never again!

 

[colind3782]

Beware Lariam - I took for a while once but never again!

:encouragement:

 

[Muddy32]

I have a bag of nappies. Use it under the engine to absorb oil and also as a giant sterile pad. Looked a bit funny on my head having bashed the bonce on the boom but it did the job.

 

[BobnLesley]

Am planning a get away from July - a year's Atlantic circuit - and am looking at medical kits and the drugs to go in them...Does anyone have any other options?...

If you wait until you reach the Canary Islands there's a Seaman's Medical Centre in Las Palmas which gave us lots of good advice, some ridiculously cheap yellow-fever innoculations and prescriptions for a selection of antibiotics - getting those filled was equally cheap/easy.

 

[Seven Spades]

What about pain killers like morphene? I thought there was a ships medical course that allowed you to obtain it and would tear you to use it. A few years ago I saw a stad at one of the boat shows where I was told that you coudl get a full ships medical kit in the Channel Islands relativly easily unlike the uk.

 

[rotrax]

Ive suffered twice in the last year with infected molars. Once in Gib, went to see a young man in Main St. Xray, diagnosed and prescription for amoxycilin ... £30 plus about £4 for the tabs, a deal.
Back home similar, Welsh NHS, local dentist disappeared so NHS Wales Direct sent me to Rhyl, 38 miles away, Xray diag, amoxycilin tabs, go back a week later and take it out. Both infections agony, hot salty water as per NHS dentist instructions at first forget it. Point of my story? If I was off across the Atlantic, a supply of amoxycilin would be paramount!

When I explained to my regular dentist that First Mate and I spent 5 months living on the boat, often in out of the way places, she was happy to give me a precription for dental antibiotics.

If you dont ask, you dont get...............................

 

[NFCN]

Thank you to all. It looks as if something like this

http://evaq8.co.uk/MEDICAL-GRAB-BAG-...SABEgLSXPD_BwE

will fit the bill, supplemented by a proper emergency dental kit and the necessary drugs. Ship's Captain's medical guide and sat phone to hand.

 

[laika]

What about pain killers like morphene?

Bit of a basic question but when we get into the realm of heavy duty pain killers...given the possibility of capital punishment in many places for possession of such drugs balanced against the practicality should you break something important yet still need to be able to navigate to safety...do most countries have a bond system like they do for firearms or is it really an insane world where guns are ok but painkillers will get you executed?

 

[A1Sailor]

An excellent publication in its day is/was "The Yachtsman's Doctor" by Surgeon Commander RT Counter - he was a sailor and Consultant ENT Surgeon.
Although published in the 1980s much of the content might still be useful. Used copies are available on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yachtsmans...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=K9WMGHHVRZXQ5109MPQJ

 

[duncan99210]

Bit of a basic question but when we get into the realm of heavy duty pain killers...given the possibility of capital punishment in many places for possession of such drugs balanced against the practicality should you break something important yet still need to be able to navigate to safety...do most countries have a bond system like they do for firearms or is it really an insane world where guns are ok but painkillers will get you executed?

My understanding is that if you've done the correct training you can then get permission to buy a full ships medical kit which includes items such as heavy duty pain relief such as morphine. The drugs are packed in sealed containers and you declare the intact pack to customs on arrival in furrin parts. If the pack is opened, then you'll need to demonstrate why the pack was opened: broken limb, healed major wound etc, plus log entries and communication logs as you're meant to get shore based medical advice before breaching the seal. So likely not to be a problem unless the seals have been broken without good cause.