First Aid kits for ocean cruising for Dog and Human

[wrwakefield]

Hi Sally,

Welcome to the forum.

You already received a lot of good information.

Here are a couple of resources for Tank: Where there is no Pet Doctor and Cruising with Pets [both by the sailing/cruising veterinarian Captain Doctor Dave.]

Regarding human first aid, aside from getting some training, we decided to go with the Adventure Marine Medical Kits. [We bought the 3000 kit as we are typically remote. We beefed it up with a traction splint. It still needs O2 and a portable defibrillator with field replaceable batteries - we are both EMTs... I mention this to give you an idea of what is in an extensive offshore kit as you can see the Adventure kits inventory lists at the above link...]

Enjoy your adventure!

Cheers!

Bill

[GoingWalkabout]

I personally would add a portable defibrillator. Not sure a bought a portable oxygen tank but when I was in Haiti it became very useful. A little extra oxygen at the right time can do wonders. An IV set up is also great. Especially for serious dehydration and other maladies. Does require extra training. Also using oxygen requires training as well. Some situations of breathing difficulty it is contraindicated. Could actually cause severe harm.

I'm glad to see you are thinking along these lines. Shows a very responsible approach. Something that is very much needed in offshore sailing. You could drive yourself crazy when you stop to think what could go wrong. Don't let thinking about what could be stop you from being 3 minutes away from a trauma cenetr. Life is for living and enjoy after all. But a good Brit had as his moto.... "Be Prepared" It's is a good moto for all sailors.

Last. It is sensible for you both to take the training. But I would put you in charge of the kit. The onboard medical officer. :-)

[valerinna]

Hola,

I am new to the livingaboard life and am currently in Rio Deluce Guatemala in Central America. Torrential rains by the way. I have a small dog audrey, who I have always taken everywhere. Whenever we visit places we haven't been before, even in the US where we are from I carry a small bottle of hydrogen peroxide. I called my vet once as a jack russel I had ate a pill my mother dropped that slows the heart rate. I was told to first try to get it up. One teaspoon poured down his throat of the HP he began to gag. He was stubborn so I administered another dose and up all came. Easy to do and worked great. Now I always have some with me.

Just a thought for your dear four legged family member.

Happy Sailing

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by valerinna

Hola,

I am new to the livingaboard life and am currently in Rio Deluce Guatemala in Central America. Torrential rains by the way. I have a small dog audrey, who I have always taken everywhere. ...

Good vet in Fronteras too, if you dont know yet.

[UNCIVILIZED]

Originally Posted by valerinna

Whenever we visit places we haven't been before, even in the US where we are from I carry a small bottle of hydrogen peroxide. I called my vet once as a jack russel I had ate a pill my mother dropped that slows the heart rate. I was told to first try to get it up. One teaspoon poured down his throat of the HP he began to gag. He was stubborn so I administered another dose and up all came. Easy to do and worked great. Now I always have some with me.

Syrup of Ipecac, is a standard component in any med kit for this kind of thing.

A lot of folks have mentioned IV's for dehydration. Which is a common way to address this ever present hazard. However; if you're not good with needles, don't want them onboard, or sea conditions make it too tough to get one started. There's always the option of rectal rehydration.

Yep, it sounds gross. But it's very viable, & there have been cases where it's saved people's lives when they were adrift in a life raft, & unable to take fluids orally.
So the other crew simply used a squeeze bulb to facilitate things. Even a clean one of the type used to prime OB engines is an option.

By taking some of the courses mentioned in this thread, as well as studying in some of the books mentioned, as well as found via the links. One learns multiple ways for addressing problems, often using only the limited resources at hand. Like the above example.
And such is fairly important, because most cruisers probably aren't going to drop $5K+ on a medical kit. So knowing how to improvise is vital.

As, for instance, SAM splits are great. But it's wise to know of a dozen (or more) other ways to stabilize an injury. And how to do it to yourself, as well as to another party.

Don't fall into the consumerisim driven "trap" for solutions on this one (topic), instead, learn how to think on your feet. As said skill may be one which saves a life.
Your brain is the best, & first tool to reach for, when it comes to first aid.

Also, start basic. Especially as you may not be near your first aid kit when you could really use it.
For example, I've carried 3-4 Bandaids in my wallet for almost 3 decades. And one day when we were working on a boat, a buddy cut himself. So I reached into my pocket & offered one up.
After which, his query was "Why do you have Bandaids in your wallet"? To which I replied, "How often are you home when you cut yourself"? - As we were spending 100+ hours a week on the water at that time.

It's one of those things which becomes a way of thinking. Like I'd have the 2 nurses on our crew (of 12-14) grill people on how to diagnose & handle X, or Y, while we were hiked out on the weather rail. On one of the boats where we were fortunate to have such talent onboard (amongst other crew with medical training).

[groundtackle]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Also, meds for pets are less regulated in some areas, so you might be able to get around some regulations that way. My vet has helped me that way before, kinda silly, same meds.

Lidocaine is a good local anesthetic to have aboard. Handy for numbimg wound areas for cleaning/closure. Good for both man & beast. Extreme dosage required for overdose (so not practical for killing the Captain!)

And another handy first aid trick...sugar. Learned this treating a badly cut dog in a remote location. Sugar's osmotic effect will rupture bacterial cell walls and thus help to keep wounds from getting infected. Pack open wound with sugar, dress it, and change/clean every couple of days (depending on how much discharge). This dog had a deep & long machette gash on his head. This wound never got infected, was never closed (no sutures etc), and healed perfectly...I cannot even find the scar today.

Regarding lidocaine : worth noting that while dogs and humans have wide margin of safety with this local anesthetic cats not so much and they can have serious adverse effects at much lower doses.
Also while sugar can be used as a wound dressing for its osmotic properties honey is much better as it not only has osmosis on its' side but also very good broad spectrum antibiotic properties. Of course both sugar and honey are very sticky so need to be used under a bandage. One other thing I would take is Epsom salts (MgSO4) . If anyone gets a puncture wound soaking in concentrated Epsom salt solution is going to help prevent infection.
I'd recommend along with either amoxicillin or cefalexin you take some ciproflox. Cipro is usually the best antibiotic for E. Coli diarrhea and E. coli is the #1 cause of food poisoning diarrhea in much of the world.
Nick (veterinarian)


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[groundtackle]

Also meant to say that if the patient is not vomiting the best way to rehydrate is per os in most cases.


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[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by nshawdvm

Also meant to say that if the patient is not vomiting the best way to rehydrate is per os in most cases.


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"os" = oral solution?

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by UNCIVILIZED

A lot of folks have mentioned IV's for dehydration. Which is a common way to address this ever present hazard. However; if you're not good with needles, don't want them onboard, or sea conditions make it too tough to get one started. There's always the option of rectal rehydration.

Yep, it sounds gross. But it's very viable, & there have been cases where it's saved people's lives when they were adrift in a life raft, & unable to take fluids orally.
So the other crew simply used a squeeze bulb to facilitate things. Even a clean one of the type used to prime OB engines is an option.

...

Effective seasickness cure too.

See http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/....php?p=1945444

[Sea Dreaming]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Also, meds for pets are less regulated in some areas, so you might be able to get around some regulations that way. My vet has helped me that way before, kinda silly, same meds.

Lidocaine is a good local anesthetic to have aboard. Handy for numbimg wound areas for cleaning/closure. Good for both man & beast. Extreme dosage required for overdose (so not practical for killing the Captain!)

And another handy first aid trick...sugar. Learned this treating a badly cut dog in a remote location. Sugar's osmotic effect will rupture bacterial cell walls and thus help to keep wounds from getting infected. Pack open wound with sugar, dress it, and change/clean every couple of days (depending on how much discharge). This dog had a deep & long machette gash on his head. This wound never got infected, was never closed (no sutures etc), and healed perfectly...I cannot even find the scar today.

That sounds like a scary story and situation. I am glad your dog is ok! We gave us sugar a couple of years ago, but I'll stick some in the med kit!

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Sea Dreaming

That sounds like a scary story and situation. I am glad your dog is ok! We gave us sugar a couple of years ago, but I'll stick some in the med kit!

That was the less injured of the two. The other had a leg almost completely severed...WAY beyond first aid...fortunatley a vet friend of mine in Guate City is an orthopedic surgeon.

Post surgery:

[AiniA]

We found that you really need different types of antibiotics. We ended up with four: the names are probably different in the UK but we had one for digestive system, one for respiratory, one for skin infections, and one for dental. We used ciproflaxin on a serious staph infection of a leg and did not work very well. When we switched to a different one (Keflax or a similar name) it worked really well.

[UNCIVILIZED]

When you have an MD write prescriptions for the medicines, as well as the letter delineating what's in your first aid kit. It's best to use the generic names for them, as generally they're more universal.
But listing their trade names too wont hurt. And also, you can get a copy of the PDR (Physician's Desk Reference), which lists pretty much every medicine out there, by all of their names; proprietary, & generic.

The book itself, is HUGE, almost too big. But you can also look stuff up in it online, & can get electronic copies of it too. Plus, more often than not, you can talk to your MD, & get last year's copy from him for free. As they tend to keep the latest version on hand in their offices.
I say as much becuase the book isn't cheap by any means. But it's worth having in some format, as it has ALL of the information on a medication; dosing, full list of side effects & their commonality, all of the medicine's names & who makes them, etc.

Also, a decent list of what to put into your medical kit can be found on www.BethandEvans.com here http://www.bethandevans.com/pdf/Medicallist.pdf
Though, as always, common sense, plus your crew's specific medical needs have to be factored in.