Coping with injuries while living aboard

[WanderingStar39]

Originally Posted by JohnEasley

Holy cow, star!!! (making a mental note to cancel any trips scheduled with you)

Fear not, the crew never gets hurt!
Those injuries were over about five years.

[bobnlesley]

Originally Posted by olaf hart

...you have to drive an automatic if you break your left ankle...

Oh No You Don't! It just takes a little practice to co-ordinate gear changes using just one foot and finding a position where the cast-encased leg can sit securely, but be 'dropped' onto the clutch pedal when you want to actually stop. Riding a motorcycle proved a lot more difficult and taking a bet that I could jump said bike off the end of a 4' loading ramp was definitely biting off more than I could chew.

[rthompsona]

My wife rehabbed on board after her hip replacement. We had the physical and occupational therapists come on board and help us add additional handholds and work on appropriate techniques. She stayed in the hospital a little longer than normal, but then she moved back on board. it was difficult, but workable.

[hellosailor]

Along those lines, I hate to mention the "i-word" but depending on whether you have insurance or not, and whether you were treated in a hospital or not...sometimes they are literally not allowed to discharge you unless you have a caretaker, or at least a handicapped-accessible place to go home to.

As rt suggests you may be entitled to have someone come out and fit some accessibility aids, which could include a ramp or whatever else is needed for boarding. An odd situation but if there's any sort of insurance coverage involved, ask. Don't be stoic about it, the last thing you need is to take a hard fall now.

[billknny]

Same answer that people get who live in third (or fifth!) floor walk-up apartments....

If you can not deal with the climb, you have to stay somewhere else until you heal.

[SV_Harbinger]

Well I went through my PCP and I have pretty good insurance but since it happened at work, my employer is footing the bill but I've discovered the way my boat is setup I can shift about almost as well as ever and I can get the dishes into the sink without even getting my bum away from the table, and getting the plate to the table is just about as easy, shower works well too just sit on the can and wash away, ( just remember to advict the toilet paper, it doesn't like showering at all) about the only change I've made to living aboard is relocate my sleeping arrangements from the vberth to the settee.
I had given though to moving in with my sister, but her house has far more stairs than I feel like dealing with and way too many dogs, and the bathroom for what ever wierd reason is on the second floor, so that after some though was dismissed.
Overall I would say with the exception of getting on and off the pier is the most difficult part and that's not that hard if I use both hand rails as crutch substitutes at low tide, at high tide it's pretty close to level, so I just choo-choo right on by. The boat is almost perfect sitting high above the pier so the sit and swing works excellent I just have to beware of the winches (they are rather solid, and seem to hold grudges).
And the hardest part was being not at work, sitting in the cockpit on a sunny warm day ( rare in Nov) with a good breeze, and occasionally hear a fender go squeak between boat pier......

[wiwizz]

I notice that no one has mentioned ripping a hole in oneself, od other.
You can buy a Chinese surgery repair practice kit. Yes, they exist. Cheap.
Have sutures etc. I would not see blue without it. But then I seem to have
a problem in this area.

TT

[Jacko]

Just recently during a crossing of the Coral Sea to Australia I fell backwards down the hull companionway on a 48ft cat ( approx. 1.5 mtr ) being an old dirt biker I knew I had broken ribs from past experience. We were 400nm from anywhere so had to just man up and continue on with my watches it was pretty rough with 30knts so the cat was all over the place ( as cats do ) It took me a couple of days to find a spot off watch to jam into a corner where I was comfortable, but made it back to Aust and am now fully recovered. So if there is no way out you have to make the best of what you have. Cheers Jacko

[hellosailor]

wiwizz-
Before anyone thinks about stitching, they need to look into options. For deep wounds or wounds where there will be movement, yes, it still may be needed. The "fake skin" sold for practice is good but won't help with deep (two layers) of stitching.
You can also buy a pre-loaded sterile disposable medical stapler, which is what most ER's use to close wounds now. Strong and fast and requiring less skill, not expensive. Also, a lower infection rate than stitching, which tends to pull septic material under the skin along with the suture material.
And for many wounds, medical grade crazy glue and butterfly tapes are actually better. Less fuss, zero infectious material pulled in. The "veterinary" surgical glues tend to be one version older than the "medical" grades, less flexible but still actually quite good for human use.
Buying "stuff" is all well and good, but even the docs in an ER often don't know why they are using something, besides "This is hospital policy". Or "But we were all out of duct tape."