Do You Have An Adequate First Aid Kit?

MonacoMike

MonacoMike

Well-Known Member
Sep 15, 2009
14,721
Indiana lakes and Lake Michigan
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2000 Cruisers 3870
8.2 Mercs
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85 Sea Ray Monaco 197
260hp Alpha 1
What do you have for a first aid kit to save your life? Save your broken or damaged apendage? Save your boating day?

Hopefully, you are not saying "my cell phone", relying on a $20 big box store first aid kit, or a 10 year old dried out formely water soaked first aid kit.

Boating is one of the most dangerious activities one can partake in and it is also one of the least accessable to first responders. (Particulaly for coastal boaters.) Than means you better be self sufficient. I have no idea how I might use a scalpel but the ER Doc on the VHF may be able to tell me. Think of all the danger on your vessel. The number one is falls and the resulting broken bones. How will you stabilize a broken arm? I have a small assortment of casts for that. What about burns? I have moleskin for that.

Think of all the danger onboard. The falls already mentioned, chemical burns, fire or hot surface burns, cuts from loss of limb to a paper cut, insects stings and bites, heat stroke, and we have not even touched on human sickness. Dramamine has saved a boating day for us more than once when a guest had an upset stomach.


I used a Zee Medical "First Responder Kit" as my base and added the everyday type things to it as well as a few major items not in the kit such as scalpel, casts and moleskin.

http://www.zeemedical.com/us/1_02-kits/6626.html

So check that kit before you launch and make sure it is the kit you want when all hell breaks loose and stop being a cheap azz...

(I have often asked dock mates what they carry for first aid so I know what you likely have)

If I can find my list easy I will post it here. (i keep copies on the boat to mark what needs to be replaced)

MM
 
Mike, I have to say...that kit was the second thing I bought, just after the boat! It's a great starter kit
 
Good idea!....or you could just rub some dirt on it


Sent from my crappy iPhone using Tapatalk
 
We carry a large kit similar to what you posted. It adds peace of mind even in the event of minor injuries.

We also never leave the dock without our EPIRB.
 
Glad ot hear from others that are cognizant of safety. I do carry the presumption, earned by the CSR members I have met in person and boated with, that as a group we are likely far better prepared than even the average boater.

MM
 
I looked around at the pre-assembled first aid kits and decided that none was comprehensive enough for what I wanted, so I made my own. I got the ideas for the contents from studying many different kits, then compiled a long list, bought the items I wanted and have them in a large fishing tackle box. Both of us know where it is, what it looks like and what's in it.
 
Never considered boating to be a dangerous activity, never mind most dangerous. Maybe you can elaborate on exactly what your doing that's so dangerous. Personally I go out to relax.
 
As a retired FF, I have kits in the boat, both trucks and a large one in the trailer. It's not always for the ones on the boat that a kit is needed for. There are always accidents, hooks, splinters, cuts, burns, stinging nettles. Cuts from tring to be flexible enough to get to that one PIA spark plug ...
 
Gofirstclass said:
I looked around at the pre-assembled first aid kits and decided that none was comprehensive enough for what I wanted, so I made my own. I got the ideas for the contents from studying many different kits, then compiled a long list, bought the items I wanted and have them in a large fishing tackle box. Both of us know where it is, what it looks like and what's in it.
Click to expand...

This was my approach as well.
 
Seriously? A first aid kit is nothing more than insurance. Do you not have insurance for your boat? Your Car? Your home? Perhaps your life? Living in your home is not usually considered a "dangerous activity" but I'm pretty confident you have home insurance and most likely, some form of first aid, even if only band aids, wound ointment or tens of other "just in case" items.
BTW, boating IS a potentially dangerous activity, if for no other reason than other boaters who are under the influence of alcohol or simply don't know what they're doing.
 
First aid kits are among the first items we put on any new boat. The power squadron has an excellent list of first aid supplies. Funny story; when we bought our 260 and were equipping it on the hard, the fire extinguishers, flairs, and first aid kits were the first aboard. Then as the Admiral was preparing the interior comforts I proceded to open up my finger while cutting a new stern line to length. First aid kit was used before the boat was even in the water. Half hour ride to the hospital and five stiches later we were quite thankful there was one there to fall back on. Ya never know what's gonna happen as you're "relaxing". :smt021
 
Our firs aid kit is in the ditch bag and EPIRB is in a side compartment of the bag. About five years ago we added Zoll AEDPlus to Gimme Time as well as our home, office and one is in the car. I'm sure the day might come when I need one for someone else and I'm sure the day I need it myself no one will be around!
 
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Seriously. Guess I'm in scoflaw's crowd. I have a basic kit on board to handle very minor injuries but beyond that wouldn't know what to do beyond the boy scout manual anyway. I know how to apply a tourniquet, could use the butt end of a rod for a splint, stuff like that. I wouldn't consider boating to be any more dangerous than any other activity given a little common sense. Yes, a drunk boater could take me out. Could be struck by lightning too but chances are slim and anything I'd carry wouldn't address that kind of catastrophic event.

"Think of all the danger onboard. The falls already mentioned, chemical burns, fire or hot surface burns, cuts from loss of limb to a paper cut, insects stings and bites, heat stroke, and we have not even touched on human sickness." That all sounds a bit dramatic to me. Forty years of boating, never had the need for anything more than some gauze and tape. Hook in a finger and broken toe. Tape and a trip to the ER upon return to port took care of it.
 
I carry a pretty serious kit. It's a slightly smaller version of what we carry at work. Couldn't put the whole ambulance in the boat.
 
I carry a couple of things on the boat. The first is a smaller but well stocked kit from http://www.adventuremedicalkits.com (Amazon carries these with better pricing). Second thing I usually have with me is a nurse (my wife.) Both have proven to be useful on the boat although the nurse is not always as quiet and manageable as the first aid kit :smt001.

Probably more important than a first aid kit in the event the captain is incapacitated is the ability for someone else on the boat to have the skills to call for help (radio and/or cell phone), provide a good location for first responders, and maybe start moving towards the responders if help is going to be a long time coming.
 
AFD said:
I carry a bucket of dirt, should last me a while
Click to expand...

Maybe just rub some tussin on it.

An above average first aid kit is a must even if you don't know what to do with all the supplies.

I had a friend fall from the swim platform after being waked by a large cruiser from about 30' away and gash his leg on a triangular transducer. It was very deep about 6" long and bleeding profusely. I was able to quickly irrigate and pack the wound with gauze then apply a pressure bandage. I hauled ass back to the dock and drove him to the hospital. He needed 46 stitches to close the wound. He used a walker for a month. What would have happened if I only had a dirty towel or a shirt to stop the bleeding? What if I didn't have sterile saline to wash the filthy water from the wound immediately?

Boating is dangerous no matter how careful you are and by being prepared you mitigate the risk.

Boating is fun and the danger associated with it adds to the excitement. But not being prepared for a number of possible circumstances on the water is downright negligent. Even if you boat on a little 100 acre pond it could take help too long to arrive before someone gets life saving treatment.
 
In the UAE - all boats get inspected and re-licensed every year. And they check your safety-gear - and your medical kit. It has to be a certain size to be approved. They also check you have all other stuff like life-vests, flares, float ring to toss. radar reflector for the small boats and fire extinguishers. While the checks are a little "easy going" on things like expiry dates... it makes certain that all boats have them - at least at the date of registration/renewal.

Recently they started putting your registration number on with permanent marker on your safety gear :) so it was not just a single kit being passed around. :) That upset a few people ...
 
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