Medical/First Aid Training for the Cruiser

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Spammy

to allow a layperson to be confident in all emergencies at sea. .

We can never be confident in all emergencies at sea wether medical or otherwise. But with the distances away from civilisation that we can be, as I mentioned in the other thread, we have a life and death choice in a myriad of emergencies. We are not confident of the outcome in any of them. But we must at least try. One can't leave a person bleeding to death with the idea that a bulk carrier with 16 underpaid Filipino crew 2 weeks from Panama are going to do any better.

One of the realities that comes with the keys to the sail boat is that we can die. A skipper is responsible, but that doesn’t mean that a skipper can prevent it. All on board, including the backpacking hitch-hikers, must be made fully aware of the dangers involved and take a Voluntary Assumption of Risk.

Mark

[Spammy]

MarkJ, you are right. I totally agree.

[waverider]

As for Christina and I we are taking the Marine First Aid course this summer. I had my first Heart Attack two years ago when I just turned 40. She want's to be prepaired if anything happens to me at sea, as well I would like to refresh my first aid and CPR trainning.

The course I posted above is not just a first aid course but is developed for the Marine enviorment. In Canada cold water survival is a serious issue, and although we dont plan on being in Canadian waters long, we do want to be ready.

Transport Canada Training Program Standards in Marine First Aid (TP 13008E)
http://www.tc.gc.ca/publications/EN/...R/TP13008E.pdf

Marine Advanced First Aid & CPR Courses:

Red Cross:
http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=19560&tid=021

St John Ambulance:
http://www.sja.ca/Canada/Training/At...dTraining.aspx

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[doctor-a]

In the US "wilderness" gets defined as time to hospital greater than 1 hour. Even coastal cruisers will meet this definition. So wilderness first aid (a basic course that really serves to teach the proper mindset to make first aid decisions outside an urban area), wilderness medicine (geared to practicing medical professionals), and wilderness first responder (sort of an EMT course for the backcountry) are all appropriate options. None of the courses will make a casual participant into a skilled provider, but they are a good second step after a participatory first aid course. The WFA is really geared to two areas- treatment of common injuries and decisions for evacuation. Best for the coastal cruiser. The WFR course is probably better for open water cruisers.
I'm hoping to get the teaching authorities to add a variant of these courses that would serve the boating community specifically.