Cruising World - November - December 2016

HANDS-ON SAILOR

95

november/december 2016

cruisingworld.com

There is growing interest

in training sailors in fi rst aid.

Here are some U.S. resources:

US Sailing (ussailing.org)

organizes regular Safety at

Sea Seminars for of shore

racing and cruising sailors.

The Newport Bermuda

Race (bermudarace.com)

requires two crew with

fi rst-aid or CPR training.

There is also an ER doctor

standing by for telephone

and email consultation for

the entire race.

Divers Alert Network

has launched DanBoater

( danboater.org), an

inexpensive ($60-$100 a

year) worldwide medical-

emergency service that last

year received 5,000 hotline

calls. Paramedics are on duty

24/7. Local DAN ai liates

also provide fi rst-aid training.

MedAire (medaire .com),

whose clients include

megayachts, packs a

sophisticated Global MedKit

for 10 to 40 people. Using

the kit requires training.

The American Red Cross

(redcross.org), the American

Heart Association (heart

.org) and the National Safety

Council (nsc.org) of er fi rst-

aid classes for various levels

of expertise.

Extensive wilderness

survival training is available

from the National Outdoor

Leadership School (nols

.edu) and Stonehearth Open

Learning Opportunities

(soloschools.com). The

Maine-based Wilderness

Medical Associates

(wildmed.com) teaches

a three-day of shore-

emergency medicine course.

These programs often

provide more useful skills

and in-depth knowledge

than average fi rst-aid classes.

The Coast Guard

Auxiliary (cgaux.org), Power

Squadrons (usps.org), the

BoatUS Foundation (boatus

.com) and many state

agencies of er boating safety

courses, some of them online.

The U.S. Coast Guard has a

mobile app (uscg.mil/mobile)

with a basic safety checklist.

FIRST   AID

RESOURCES

COURTESY OF FOWEY MARITIME CENTRE (BOTTOM); STEPHEN FRINK

Inexpensive and widely available, resuscitation masks are now standard equipment in

many of shore sailors’ fi rst-aid kits (top). The ready-to-use device allows you to give

immediate respiratory support to a patient without compromising yourself. Hands-on

medical training aboard a yacht, such as that of ered by the Fowey Maritime Centre in the

United Kingdom, is an excellent way to learn the basics in real-world situations (above).