I am getting the final items together before our departure from the UK in August '18.
We are off to Canaries and then ARC to St Lucia in November. A winter around the Islands and then maybe Pacific bound or back to work.....

Ive researched med kits online and they range from the sublime to the ridiculous in size, value, contents etc.
I am trained to a reasonably high standard (MCA/STCW '10 Advanced medical Care Aboard ship) but still require doctors advice from ashore.
Does anyone have a sensible medical kit list that has worked for them. Most off the shelf ones seem to have items i don't need and are missing items i do want to carry.
Many thanks in advance.
James
S/Y Gitana
edited by james.fiske on 7/10/2018

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Simon Currin - 6/28/2020

Here is the link to the excellent article in Flying Fish written by Dr Maria Forbes based on her original research and with contributors drawn from this Forum Thread. Great job Maria. https://liveicomgrshot.blob.core.windows.net/occfiles/ffarticles/69_75-82_FORBES.pdfSimon

Hi Simon and all,
I have written in these pages about the kind of medical preparedness training that I consider most pertinent for ocean passage makers and those who wander areas where there are no facilities. The danger in choosing training, as I see it, is to choose training where the mind-set is that the goal is stabilization prior to professional intervention in a hospital or clinic. These are often the local first-aid courses and those aimed towards EMTs and the like. The other course offering that some cruisers gravitate toward are those for commercial mariners. The training is often good, but there can be a skewing of training towards having a wide range of diagnostic/treatment opportunities and comm with shore professionals ready-at-hand that a small sailboat does can’t (or usually doesn’t) match.
I favor wilderness training courses as they are designed for off-the-grid intervention with minimal medical tools (in other words, what can fit in a backpack in addition to the everyday personal items) and no expectation of easy or expedient assistance. Of course, if assistance can be called in, all the better, but the training is focused on first evaluating whether outside assistance is warranted (life or death kind of evaluation) and whether one needs to call in a chopper and put SAR personnel into action and/or possibly in danger.
In the US, I believe that NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) offers the best courses for the offshore sailor (https://www.nols.edu/en/wilderness-medicine/why-nols/). They have a few levels of training, that can cover the coastal cruiser up to ambitious expedition cruising. Other courses to consider are Wilderness Medical Associates International (https://www.wildmed.com/contact-us/) and SOLO (https://www.google.com/search?q=solo+wilderness+medical+school+conway+nh&oq=solo+wilderness+medic&aqs=chrome.5.0j69i57j0l6.32512j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8) both of which I am less familiar.
In the UK, I have yet to hear of a wilderness medical training even though I was based in the Uk for 5 years, but I am sure that there must be the equivalent. Outward Bound administration in the UK might be a good place to start research.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

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Dick - 6/29/2020

+x

 

Simon Currin - 6/28/2020

Here is the link to the excellent article in Flying Fish written by Dr Maria Forbes based on her original research and with contributors drawn from this Forum Thread. Great job Maria. https://liveicomgrshot.blob.core.windows.net/occfiles/ffarticles/69_75-82_FORBES.pdfSimon

Hi Simon and all,
I have written in these pages about the kind of medical preparedness training that I consider most pertinent for ocean passage makers and those who wander areas where there are no facilities. The danger in choosing training, as I see it, is to choose training where the mind-set is that the goal is stabilization prior to professional intervention in a hospital or clinic. These are often the local first-aid courses and those aimed towards EMTs and the like. The other course offering that some cruisers gravitate toward are those for commercial mariners. The training is often good, but there can be a skewing of training towards having a wide range of diagnostic/treatment opportunities and comm with shore professionals ready-at-hand that a small sailboat does can’t (or usually doesn’t) match.
I favor wilderness training courses as they are designed for off-the-grid intervention with minimal medical tools (in other words, what can fit in a backpack in addition to the everyday personal items) and no expectation of easy or expedient assistance. Of course, if assistance can be called in, all the better, but the training is focused on first evaluating whether outside assistance is warranted (life or death kind of evaluation) and whether one needs to call in a chopper and put SAR personnel into action and/or possibly in danger.
In the US, I believe that NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) offers the best courses for the offshore sailor (https://www.nols.edu/en/wilderness-medicine/why-nols/). They have a few levels of training, that can cover the coastal cruiser up to ambitious expedition cruising. Other courses to consider are Wilderness Medical Associates International (https://www.wildmed.com/contact-us/) and SOLO (https://www.google.com/search?q=solo+wilderness+medical+school+conway+nh&oq=solo+wilderness+medic&aqs=chrome.5.0j69i57j0l6.32512j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8) both of which I am less familiar.
In the UK, I have yet to hear of a wilderness medical training even though I was based in the Uk for 5 years, but I am sure that there must be the equivalent. Outward Bound administration in the UK might be a good place to start research.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

Hi all,
It has come to my attention that there is on-line wilderness medical training by one of the organizations I referred to earlier (https://www.solowfa.com/). Casual research on-line appears to give it good ratings. They seem to have a number of levels of training. One of the drawbacks of on-line is the lack of hands-on practice under the eyes of an instructor and conjointly with classmates: not a small drawback. But the SOLO course may have suggestions as to how to deal with this.
As said, I do not believe that the above is optimal, but it checks a number of the boxes that I consider important and is likely worth considering.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy