First Aid Box - Uups, nothing to clean wound.

[leboyd]

If at sea, boil non-potable water for three minutes then use as soon as the water is cool enough you can stand it for at least fifteen minutes. If no stitches done, boil water and soak the wound twice a day, again with the water as hot as can be stood. I had surgery on my hand and the doctor choose not to stitch it because it was a staph infection. When he told me to soak it twice a day like this, the first time I thought it was going to be very painful. It turned out to be the most soothing feeling and I looked forward to doing it.

[Jerry Woodward]

Originally Posted by ChrisJHC

If offshore (where the water is relatively uncontaminated), would sea water do the job?

NO, NO, NO!

Sea water is full of bacteria that are normal inhabitants and part of the normal ocean ecosystem. Most are totally harmless to people.....unless they enter through a wound. The most notable example is Vibrio vulnificus found in warm ocean water. This can cause serious infections including necrotizing fasciitis.

https://www.cdc.gov/vibrio/wounds.html

For this reason, don't even swim in the ocean if you have an open wound unless sealed really well. One of the main reasons for irrigating a wound on a boat is to try to remove as much sea water as possible. Particularly critical if you get a cut while in the water. Even if you have a small cut while in the ocean which doesn't seem to be that big a deal, don't just put a band aid on it and forget about it. It needs to be rinsed really well with saline or clean water and then some antibiotic ointment under that band-aid.

[sv_pelagia]

Once, while trekking well off the beaten path in Nepal, I was asked to help a child who had seriously smashed his thumb. The wound was really dirty, and it needed real cleaning. There was no clean water nearby (water in the hills is often seriously contaminated) and we didn't want to wait for water to be boiled and cooled down. Mom had a great solution: she had a large pot of cold tea (previously boiled). So we had lots of essentially sterile liquid to clean the wound, then apply antiseptic and antibiotic cream, then sterile bandage. We supplied mom with extra antibiotic and bandage, but told her child really needed to get to health post asap (1-2 days walk away).

Of course, as we were leaving, child was back playing, getting (now fully bandaged) thumb dirty (ahh, boys...).