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These first aid basics are meant to give you an idea of the most common afflictions that can occur on boating holidays in Australia and the basic remedies for those
ills. We give some pre sailing advice for all those planning a skippered yacht charter or bareboat yacht charter and then cover the most common on board illnesses, including seasickness,
and sunburn.
Before you take sailing holidays, make sure that you and everyone
you're planning to take sailing knows how to swim.
It is strongly recommend that you know the life-saving
techniques of Expired Air Resuscitation (EAR) and...CPR
(cardiopulmonary resuscitation) regardless of whether
or not you plan to go cruising... Being on the water
increases the amount of time that emergency personnel
need to get to you, and CPR and EAR is the best way
to keep someone alive while rescue personnel are on
their way.
CPR is beyond the scope
of web pages to teach, but your local St John Ambulance
course can teach you the technique in only a few hours.
To show you how to perform CPR and the steps involved
you'll find detailed procedure at: Emergency Techniques
Among its services, St John Ambulance offers comprehensive
First Aid Training and a range of quality First Aid
Kits - courses include:
- Senior First Aid Course - This 18 hour course
equips you with skills to manage life threatening
injury and illness and other lesser conditions.
- Advanced First Aid Course - A 15 hour course
of high level first aid training
- First Aid at Sea Course - This is a 35 hour
course, including training to a medallion certificate
level.
Your first aid charter boat kit
A first aid kit is supplied on
every charter boat offering skippered yacht charters and bareboat charters along with a first aid manual...this first aid boating kit should
be in a dry, watertight compartment with a list of contents
on the box for easy reference... Check this out with your
'boat briefer' before leaving on your charter. Those contents
should (at a minimum) include the items listed below.

One other thing: If anyone on board requires medication for
an ongoing condition, make sure that medicine is on board.
It's no good being 3-4 hours from a supply - and you
need the medication now!
| What's in a First Aid Kit |
Quantity |
Quantity in pack |
| Bandages open wove,
50mm x 5m |
1 |
3 |
| Elastic adhesive
dressings - assorted sizes |
12 |
2 |
| Crepe bandage 75
MM x 1 m approx. |
1 |
1 |
| Sterilized absorbent
cotton wool |
100g |
2 |
| Zinc oxide, self
adhesive bandage 25 mm x 1m |
1 |
3 |
| Iodine, weak solution
2.5 percent |
25ml |
1 |
| Amethocaine (Tetrocaine)
0.5 percent Eye drops in vials holding one application
- sterile |
20 |
1 |
| Cough Linctus |
100ml |
2 |
| Cetrimide Cream
0.5 percent in tube |
50g |
2 |
| Non-adhesive dressing
pads Novalind or equivalent 80 mm x 80mm |
25
|
1 |
| Triangular bandages |
|
2 |
| Splints (2 arm)
(1 leg) |
|
|
| Safety pins - assorted
sizes on card |
12 |
1 |
| Lancet |
|
1 |
| Scissors (for cutting
dressings) |
|
1 pair |
| Splinter forceps |
- |
1 pair |
| Medicine measures
- plastic metric |
- |
3 |
| Clinical thermometer |
- |
2 |
Copy of first-aid
leaflet of instructions |
|
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Staving off seasickness on boating holidays
Virtually anyone can be subject
to sea sickness or motion sickness... In fact, 90% of people
experience motion sickness at some point in their lives and
only veteran ocean sailors seem unaffected.
Some old salts swear that they never feel the least bit
queasy, but having that feeling develop can ruin an otherwise
great sailing holiday. Following is a list of several actions you can
take to minimise your chances of feeling nauseous on your yacht charter:
- Avoid alcohol (or a hangover).
- Avoid rich, greasy or spicy foods and apples.
- Focus on the horizon. Distractions such as steering
the boat or helping with a job on deck can help you feel
better, too.
- Keep some solid food in your stomach at all times.
Crackers or bread make good choices.
- Sip small amounts of fizzy drinks such as ginger ale
or clear soft drinks. Some people swear by this rule.
- Stay on deck. Stay in the fresh air, away from
exhaust fumes.
Cause of seasickness
Motion sickness relates to our sense of spatial orientation,
which tells the brain where the body is "in space":
what direction it is moving, what direction it is pointing,
and if it is turning or standing still...This spatial orientation is regulated by complex interaction
of the 4 following mechanisms:
- both inner ears monitor the directions of motion in three
dimensions.
- our eyes observe where our body is in relation to its
surroundings as well as the direction of motion.
- Skin pressure receptors such as those located in the feet
and seat sense in what direction the gravitational pull
affects our body. (In other words, which side is up.)
- Muscle and joint sensory neural receptors report which
parts of the body are in motion and in which relative direction.
All these sensory data will subsequently be processed in
the central nervous system, which enables you to balance, move
and position yourself properly in the three dimensional surroundings on board a charter yacht.
The symptoms of motion sickness appear when the brain receives
conflicting messages from the four systems... A conflict on
board your charter yacht can easily occur: when reading a book on deck,
your eyes observe no motion, yet your inner ears feel the
motion of the yacht due to the waves.
Symptoms
The first telltales of such a conflict are often lethargy
and a slight drowsiness. But for the victims, it will usually
start with a nauseous feeling and/or a slight cold sweat.
Then these symptoms increase and the face becomes paler, perhaps
even greenish. Any attempt to concentrate on a task will worsen
this predicament. The nauseous feeling eventually becomes
uncontrollable and leads to (sometimes violent) vomiting.
Prevention
Recent studies have shown that ginger root may be as effective
as the other drug treatments but is associated with fewer
side effects.
Several medicines can help combat seasickness, but most
must be taken before the symptoms start. Hours before starting any sailing holidays take an over-the-counter antihistamine such
as meclizine or dimenhydrinate... For longer trips, a prescription
medication called a Transderm-Scopolamine patch can be worn
behind the ear for up to three days at a time... Of course,
like just about any other medication, you shouldn't take any
of these medicines if you're pregnant without consulting your
doctor. Even if you aren't pregnant, your doctor may be able
to recommend a good remedy... Over-the-counter seasickness
pills, such as Dramamine, must be taken an hour before starting your sailing
holiday and like all other medications, can cause drowsiness and a
dry mouth.
Keep an eye on anyone on the yacht charter who is feeling seasick. Seasickness
can make you weak, disoriented, and extremely sleepy - a danger
when on deck. If you notice the early symptoms, act immediately
and:
- Help the seasick person to a comfortable spot in the fresh
air, but not in direct sunlight.
- Don't give the person any task other than steering. Steering
as well as studying the horizon works and will help to anticipate
the boat's motion.
- Otherwise, lay in the cockpit to leeward with closed eyes.
- If you aren't feeling well, don't worry; almost all sailors
feel queasy at some point.
If you throw up, try to do so off the leeward side of the
boat, downwind of everyone (including yourself).
For those of you fixing lunch for a group of sailors, a
meal on the water isn't the time to get fancy with spicy or
greasy recipes. Stick with basic foods like sandwiches, with
easy-to-digest meats such as turkey, and throw in plenty of
crackers, fruit, (not apples) biscuits and easy-to-eat (and
digest) foods. On a rough day on the water, you will be glad
you followed this first aid boating tip...
Steer clear of sunburn on boating holidays
The effects of being out in the
sun all day, combined with the sun's rays reflected off the
water, make sailors prime candidates for sunburn. These first aid tips
can help you avoid having a painful sunburn at the end of
the day:
- Put sunscreen on before you leave for a days
cruising.
- Reapply sunscreen several times during the day - especially
in wet conditions.
- Always use a sunscreen with a SPF (Sun Protection Factor)
of at least 15. Try to always carry a stick of sunscreen
in your pocket so you can frequently reapply sunscreen to
noses, lips, and ears.
- Always wear a hat and sunglasses. (preferably polarized)
- If you're fair-skinned or sailing in the tropics, wear
a long sleeved, lightweight cotton shirt (one with a collar
to help protect your neck) and long pants. Guarding
your skin this way makes your trip much more enjoyable.
You'll be amazed at how tanned you'll get even when covered
up all day.
If you do have severe sunburn, using aloe vera products
helps soothe the skin. Drink plenty of cool fluids and try
to wear loose-fitting cotton clothes to help
your skin heal.
Defeating dehydration on a sailing holiday
Dehydration and heat exhaustion
are two of the most dangerous illnesses for sailors because
the body rejects the cure, which is to get cool and
drink plenty of fluids...With severe dehydration,
your body rejects any fluid intake by throwing up, making
you further dehydrated. Severe dehydration can result in staying
in a hospital hooked up to an IV to rehydrate. So try to drink
as much fluid as you can while you're on the water.
In very hot conditions, you can get dehydrated even when
you feel like you've been consuming fluids all day. One way
to tell whether you're getting dehydrated is by how much you
have to urinate...If you haven't had to use the head
(marine toilet) all day, you need to drink a lot more water.
For more about heat exhaustion go to: Heat
Exhaustion
When you have to go, you have to go. But some people get
nervous about using the head on bareboat or skippered yacht charters... How to use the head is well
covered in your bareboat briefing. Understanding how to use the head,
is better than using it and then discovering that you can't
flush it. For a free rundown on using a marine toilet: refer
to Marine
Head (Toilet) System 
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