"Preparation to treat angina" ?

[Shakemeister]

If not already in the box, you could top it up with 300mg dispersible aspirin tablets. Aspirin and GTN are normally given together in cases of suspected heart attack. The person with the chest pain can make their own mind up if they want to take it (which should be chewed not swallowed, and they need to read the cautions and contra-indications before doing so!)

Many supermarkets now do home brand 300mg aspirin - it costs about 50p a box if that.

 

[whipper_snapper]

The first aid kit on Kindred Spirit was more or less useless - you could have done just as well with gaffer or electrical tape, kitchen paper, and teatowels.

Do not underestimate the value of tea-towels and gaffer tape for some medical emergencies. They are potential lifesavers.

 

[Seajet]

Well I have found this thread very useful; thanks to all.

Did a couple of First Aid courses and have the ticket, but it seems now I'm the one requiring help !

Ta,

Andy

 

[jwilson]

Updated an opened Cat C kit last year for a charter boat by buying a new nitroglycerine spray as well as other bits, chemist did not ask for prescription. Replaced all out of date stuff. This is for the "working" Cat C kit on board, a second unopened one is kept aboard as a spare.

The only used stuff in the FA box was paracetamol and band-aids....

 

[Plevier]

Official NHS leaflet here http://www.chesterfieldroyal.nhs.uk...s/40093 Glyceryl Trinitrat -1.pdf?_ts=1&_ts=1 specifically states GTN spray available from pharmacist without prescription.

 

[prv]

Do not underestimate the value of tea-towels and gaffer tape for some medical emergencies. They are potential lifesavers.

Well, indeed. And I've quite often used the smaller-scale version; kitchen roll and electrical tape instead of a plaster. Just saying that, since I have tea towels and gaffer tape on board, the very basic first aid kit on KS was of limited use.

I put one of the new-style military field dressings in the new kit, for that kind of major leakage.

Pete

 

[jdc]

vetinary dressings!

Well, indeed. And I've quite often used the smaller-scale version; kitchen roll and electrical tape instead of a plaster. Just saying that, since I have tea towels and gaffer tape on board, the very basic first aid kit on KS was of limited use.

I put one of the new-style military field dressings in the new kit, for that kind of major leakage.

Pete

I have Vet Wrap and Animalintex dressings on board for this purpose. I can't recommend Vet Wrap highly enough: It's just a bandage which sticks to itself but it is a decent size and can be used over wound dressings or to immobilise a sprain or even (not that I've had to do this) a broken bone. They're cheap and easily available (and come in bright colours!).

 

[Sailfree]

Updated an opened Cat C kit last year for a charter boat by buying a new nitroglycerine spray as well as other bits, chemist did not ask for prescription. Replaced all out of date stuff. This is for the "working" Cat C kit on board, a second unopened one is kept aboard as a spare.

The only used stuff in the FA box was paracetamol and band-aids....

But always have a FA box for general use as once you open a Cat C on a charter boat it has to be replaced to stay in charter.

I assume its because only with a sealed kit can you be sure nothing is missing!

 

[prv]

I can't recommend Vet Wrap highly enough

Yep - found it mentioned in an old thread on first aid kit contents. Since I already had an order on the go with a human medical company, what I actually ordered was wide "cohesive bandage" rather than paying another lot of postage from a vet site - but I believe it's the same stuff.

Pete

 

[prv]

This is for the "working" Cat C kit on board, a second unopened one is kept aboard as a spare.

But always have a FA box for general use as once you open a Cat C on a charter boat it has to be replaced to stay in charter.

??

Isn't that what he just said?

As I understand it, there isn't actually any requirement for the kit to be sealed and unopened, though. The MCA just list a set of things you have to have on board, they don't say they have to be bought as a kit or kept sealed. But surveyors don't want to be sitting down and counting your safety pins, or checking the expiry date on every item, so it makes everybody's life a lot easier to have a sealed pack you know charterers haven't messed with, with one single expiry date on the outside. It's convenience, not the law.

Pete

 

[BlueSkyNick]

No doubt you have heard about the slightly deaf old man in the residential home who took a fancy to a well to do lady.

After a few sherries, he got her into bed and she said, "Please be careful, I've got acute angina" to which he replied "I hope so because your tits are bloody aweful!"

 

[jwilson]

But always have a FA box for general use as once you open a Cat C on a charter boat it has to be replaced to stay in charter.

I assume its because only with a sealed kit can you be sure nothing is missing!

Yes - that's why the boat starts each year with TWO complete up to date Cat C kits, one in FA box, one sealed in plastic pack.

 

[Daydream believer]

If you do the one day RYA First Aid Course, this includes the contents of a Cat-C first Aid Kit. You should be shown what is in the kit and how to use it. You will also get an update on the current CPR protocol.

Cue for links to internet CPR clips

I am not sure it is
I did the course 2 weeks ago & the instructor said that was an "add on" for the charter skippers who also attended
I received no instruction re the use of themedicines in the kit except that he had an open one & listed the contents

 

[Thistle]

Did a couple of First Aid courses and have the ticket, but it seems now I'm the one requiring help !

Remember that the ticket has the same shelf-life as the GTN spray - 3 years - and unlike the GTN its validity expires suddenly at the end of the 3 year period (though there may be some degradation of the required knowledge before then )

 

[charles_reed]

Are you suggesting that reducing self-poisoning is pointless, or that smaller pack sizes of analgesics are ineffective in doing so?

There is good evidence to suggest that reducing pack sizes of paracetamol saves lives; see http://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.f403

Overdosing on paracetamol is an ineffective way of suicide - all it does is to cause liver degeneration - the BMJ article in fact refers to this reduction in liver transplants required due to the attempt to kill oneself by reducing paracetamol pack-sizes.
In any case it's very unwise to take more than 6gms in 24 hours - even that can, over an extended period, lead to liver damage.

 

[alan_d]

Overdosing on paracetamol is an ineffective way of suicide - all it does is to cause liver degeneration - the BMJ article in fact refers to this reduction in liver transplants required due to the attempt to kill oneself by reducing paracetamol pack-sizes.
In any case it's very unwise to take more than 6gms in 24 hours - even that can, over an extended period, lead to liver damage.

Quite extensive thread-drift here, but I can't let this one pass in case anybody is misled.

Take a substantial paracetamol overdose and you are likely to die of liver failure if you are not given an antidote (acetylcysteine) within a fairly short time (hours, not days). I would agree that paracetamol is not a "good" way to kill yourself as the effects are unpleasant and painful and the process is drawn out over several days, but it certainly is not "ineffective".