So who’s the first responder in a medical emergency if you’re on the boat and you’re, let’s say, an hour offshore or out of port? You are. Being an hour or more from help is no big deal to a boater, much less a cruiser who heads offshore or into remote regions like Alaska or Mexico, and a boater can’t simply dial 911 and expect an aid car to be on scene momentarily. (Although you can call for help. In SOS 1, in the July/August 2007 issue of Classic Yacht, we discussed the Coast Guard’s new Rescue 21 System for distress radio communications).
On the water, at least initially, the skipper and crew are uniquely dependent on their own resources when a crew member or passenger suffers illness or injury. On board a boat, the skipper and at least one other person (what happens if the skipper is the one who gets hurt?) ought to be capable of taking immediate actions should an accident or illness occur. While it’s your responsibility to act, remember that you’re not alone in today’s world.
Call the Coast Guard on VHF Channel 16 and they’ll put you in contact with shore side medical professionals who can direct your treatment efforts by radiotelephone. And of course, if the situation is serious enough to justify a medical evacuation, the Coast Guard will dispatch response units even as they put you in contact with the medical pros. Your job is to stabilize the patient’s condition until help arrives. So what does that mean? If you’re a commercial seaman, it means you’ve taken first aid training as a condition of obtaining your license and you put your training to work.
If you’re a senior officer, designated a person in charge of medical emergency response aboard a commercial vessel, it means you’ve had advanced first aid training and you may be called upon to perform procedures ranging from taking vital signs to suturing a wound to operating a defibrillator in an effort to restart a patient’s heart. Sounds intimidating, doesn’t it? Not the sort of thing boaters tend to talk about over cocktails. If it’s intimidating even to consider, however, think of how you’ll feel when you’re called upon to act, especially if you haven’t
prepared in advance, for example, by taking a first aid course and assembling an adequate medical kit.
Nothing ever really prepares you for a medical emergency, however, and in the end, you just have to stay calm and use your common sense. Here are some things to keep in mind. Call for Help. If you encounter a medical emergency, you’ve got to get help. Call or shout for assistance but don’t leave the scene until you’ve performed a preliminary examination. If the patient isn’t breathing and doesn’t have a heartbeat, or if he (or she) is suffering from spurting blood loss, you have to provide immediate care.
Protect Yourself. Survey the scene before you rush to assist. Your first job is to protect yourself. You can’t help if you become a second casualty. Eliminate physical hazards to yourself and those around you before you approach the patient. You should also attempt to protect yourself from communicable diseases. Your vessel’s medical kit should include personal protective devices like gloves and face shields that serve as barriers between you and the victim’s bodily fluids. You may also represent a threat to the victim. Take care not to contaminate sterile surfaces as you use first aid supplies.
Stay Cool. You’ve got to try and keep your emotions in check. Feeling scared and inadequate is natural, but don’t allow yourself to panic. Keep in mind that the textbook approach to first aid doesn’t always apply to the real world. Ready-made medical supplies and equipment may not be immediately available at the scene of an accident, and you may have to improvise or do without. You may have to decide whether the highest priority is rendering immediate assistance or taking
time to get the medical kit.
Initial Examination. As you respond to the casualty, take care to cause no additional harm. Sometimes, the best you can do is to avoid making the emergency worse. Don’t move the victim unless it’s absolutely necessary. Unless you have no alternative, wait until help and the backboard arrive before attempting to reposition someone with suspected head, neck or back injuries. Offer gentle reassurance. No matter how scared you are, try to appear confident and competent.
Identify yourself. Assure the patient that you’ve had first aid training and that more help is on the way. Talk to the Patient. Talk to the patient each time you touch or treat him, but watch what you say. Even if he appears unconscious, he may be able to hear you. Use words that stimulate hope rather than despair. Ask the patient what happened. If he can’t answer, ask witnesses what they saw and study the scene. Understanding the accident will help you assess the injuries.
If you have to reposition the victim’s body to perform rescue breathing or to move him away from danger, be extremely careful. Use the log-roll technique to position him on his back as you stabilize the head, neck and spine by means of hand traction. We’ll talk more about stabilizing the spine and specific first aid procedures in later installments.
On the water, at least initially, the skipper and crew are uniquely dependent on their own resources when a crew member or passenger suffers illness or injury. On board a boat, the skipper and at least one other person (what happens if the skipper is the one who gets hurt?) ought to be capable of taking immediate actions should an accident or illness occur. While it’s your responsibility to act, remember that you’re not alone in today’s world.
Call the Coast Guard on VHF Channel 16 and they’ll put you in contact with shore side medical professionals who can direct your treatment efforts by radiotelephone. And of course, if the situation is serious enough to justify a medical evacuation, the Coast Guard will dispatch response units even as they put you in contact with the medical pros. Your job is to stabilize the patient’s condition until help arrives. So what does that mean? If you’re a commercial seaman, it means you’ve taken first aid training as a condition of obtaining your license and you put your training to work.
If you’re a senior officer, designated a person in charge of medical emergency response aboard a commercial vessel, it means you’ve had advanced first aid training and you may be called upon to perform procedures ranging from taking vital signs to suturing a wound to operating a defibrillator in an effort to restart a patient’s heart. Sounds intimidating, doesn’t it? Not the sort of thing boaters tend to talk about over cocktails. If it’s intimidating even to consider, however, think of how you’ll feel when you’re called upon to act, especially if you haven’t
prepared in advance, for example, by taking a first aid course and assembling an adequate medical kit.
Nothing ever really prepares you for a medical emergency, however, and in the end, you just have to stay calm and use your common sense. Here are some things to keep in mind. Call for Help. If you encounter a medical emergency, you’ve got to get help. Call or shout for assistance but don’t leave the scene until you’ve performed a preliminary examination. If the patient isn’t breathing and doesn’t have a heartbeat, or if he (or she) is suffering from spurting blood loss, you have to provide immediate care.
Protect Yourself. Survey the scene before you rush to assist. Your first job is to protect yourself. You can’t help if you become a second casualty. Eliminate physical hazards to yourself and those around you before you approach the patient. You should also attempt to protect yourself from communicable diseases. Your vessel’s medical kit should include personal protective devices like gloves and face shields that serve as barriers between you and the victim’s bodily fluids. You may also represent a threat to the victim. Take care not to contaminate sterile surfaces as you use first aid supplies.
Stay Cool. You’ve got to try and keep your emotions in check. Feeling scared and inadequate is natural, but don’t allow yourself to panic. Keep in mind that the textbook approach to first aid doesn’t always apply to the real world. Ready-made medical supplies and equipment may not be immediately available at the scene of an accident, and you may have to improvise or do without. You may have to decide whether the highest priority is rendering immediate assistance or taking
time to get the medical kit.
Initial Examination. As you respond to the casualty, take care to cause no additional harm. Sometimes, the best you can do is to avoid making the emergency worse. Don’t move the victim unless it’s absolutely necessary. Unless you have no alternative, wait until help and the backboard arrive before attempting to reposition someone with suspected head, neck or back injuries. Offer gentle reassurance. No matter how scared you are, try to appear confident and competent.
Identify yourself. Assure the patient that you’ve had first aid training and that more help is on the way. Talk to the Patient. Talk to the patient each time you touch or treat him, but watch what you say. Even if he appears unconscious, he may be able to hear you. Use words that stimulate hope rather than despair. Ask the patient what happened. If he can’t answer, ask witnesses what they saw and study the scene. Understanding the accident will help you assess the injuries.
If you have to reposition the victim’s body to perform rescue breathing or to move him away from danger, be extremely careful. Use the log-roll technique to position him on his back as you stabilize the head, neck and spine by means of hand traction. We’ll talk more about stabilizing the spine and specific first aid procedures in later installments.
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