Boating Injuries / First Aid Kit
Submitted by iana on Sun, 2012-01-01 07:15
As part of my boat service, I am checking the contents of my first aid kit. I was wondering what I really need to take in the boat, and what is unnessary clutter.
So to work on that question, what sort of injuries etc have people experienced while boating?
Typical would be fish hook and knife injuries, bites and stings from sea life and crew sickness.
smash
Posts: 434
Date Joined: 01/12/10
try this for a
try this for a starter.
Better add a disc grinder and bolt cutters for the kit
carnarvonite
Posts: 8673
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Bandages
All I carry is a few wide crepe bandages. The bandages can cope for most injuries and after all there is nearly bugger all you can do if someone gets badly injured except call for help from sea rescue so they can organise an ambulance etc. Once that is done , head for shore asap, keeping a running update with the rescue boys so they can track your progress and offer any further medical advice they have gathered in the meantime.
The only other bits I carry are sunscreen [speaks for its self] and plenty of water.
allrounder
Posts: 1853
Date Joined: 10/11/08
All you need is
Paw Paw cream,fixamol and netball finger tape.You also need the normal old tools twezzers,needles and blades ect. Paw Paw cream straight over the wound stops extra infection.Fixamol patches covers the cream and netball tape is like elastoplast but thin and comes in 5+ meter rolls sorts out finger cuts.Paw Paw is good for cracked lips,burns,cuts and rashes ect.
So tell me have you got your info from years on the water or hours on the internet?
Michael Yoni
Posts: 603
Date Joined: 02/01/11
OUCH,The best first aid kit
OUCH,
The best first aid kit in the world is of no use if you do not know how to use it properly.
Equally as important is correct training, a first aid course does not cost much and will teach you things you may need.
roberta
Posts: 2773
Date Joined: 08/07/08
We have the normal
things in our three first aid kits that you buy, for the boat, car and home, but also have a clean, washed plastic sauce screw top bottle of good brown vinegar for bee stings, bull ant and bluebottle stings. came in handy when old fart was bringing in sea anchor and a blue bottle had wrapped itself around the rope, washed his hands down then washed the rope, slight stinging but no were near the pain if we didn't have the brown vinegar, please make sure its a good genuine brown vinegar. We used to keep it in the car, as our little dog would stand on a bee, bull ant or the stinger flies, brown vinegar soaked on a piece of clean cottonball, settled her down as well.
I've done a first aid course and apart from everything you learn, please the most important thing is don't panic, sometimes that is worse than the injury.
Ginger Tablets Rock
Tomcat
Posts: 614
Date Joined: 24/02/11
Vinegar
I was told to use white vinegar any oneelse know
carnarvonite
Posts: 8673
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Brown vinegar
Used to go through heaps of brown vinegar while shark fishing up north. Poor bloke pulling hooks off the mainline would be in full wet weather gear in 40+ heat because the jellyfish stings hanging off the line would splash all over him otherwise.
When resetting the line hour later they would come flying off the rope as it came off the winch drum spraying all over the deck making you watch where you put your hands or rubbed against until it was washed down.
Found that the cheapest brown vinegar beat all the whites and more expensive one by far.
iana
Posts: 652
Date Joined: 21/09/09
White or Brown vinigar.
I had brought the white vinigar, so I googled the question and back came some very interesting results. For blue bottle stings don't use vinegar, use hot water at about 45' if hot water not available use iced water. I found vinegar was only used to treat stings up north in the tropics. Google it yourselves and see.
Tomcat
Posts: 614
Date Joined: 24/02/11
Yes
Have used hot water it helps the main thing is not to rub it
iana
Posts: 652
Date Joined: 21/09/09
Dont forget the origional question.
What sort of injuries etc have people experienced while boating?
We have massive hand hook ups, stings by jelly fish. Saw that picture of that poor girl - Barracudas revenge. What about hypo-thermia?
carnarvonite
Posts: 8673
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Smash"s hook
Used the same size hooks as Smash's pic, one bloke got one buried in near the base of his left thumb with the hook following his index finger down , forcing it to follow the same contour as the hook. All that was visible was the eye and about 10mm of shank.
We had just finished setting our shark longline and were approx 6-7 hours steaming in to port and as we had planned to head in after pulling the gear next day he said he would put up with it to save the fuel and time spent travelling to drop him in to hospital. He had a few beers and some panadiene forte to keep him happy until then. They knocked him out to cut it out and clean and stitch him up, couple of days and he was good as gold again.
On another run out from Hedland , a decky got chomped on a knee by a big sandbar whaler resulting in a 5 hour steam in, get him stitched up in the doctors surgery--80+ stitches then sail back out to arrive at daylight to pull the gear.Have some footage of the doctor treating him but don't want to or know how to put it on the net.
Both my sons were wet lining not far from where I was fishing off Yallingup when they called me up to say Robby had a hook in his hand and that they were steaming over to see what I thought, one look and told them to head straight to the moorings at Quindalup and take him in to the surgery in Dunsborough but don't forget to take another circle hook the same as the one i his hand with them. Just as well because the doctor hadn't seen one before and would have treated it as a normal shape hook.
Local anaestetic and a bit of scalpel work and a couple of stitches and he was on his way again.