thread topic: help i've just had a heart attack or

[bruce in oz]

i've just broken my neck.

granted if i lived in a marina the flies & the smell would probably attract my neighbours attention.

those folk who live nearby on the harbour & i, tend to keep an eye out for each other from day to day, without being intrusive. but it is a day to day thing.

do any liveaboards, not in marinas, especially solo sailors, have safeguards in place for their untimely demise, before the flies/crocs/sea eagles cause attention to be given to their incapacity?

how long will my rotting body lay here before it is discovered or consumed....

[senormechanico]

It depends on the ambient temperature.

[Tempest245]

Leave the gun...take the canolis....

[Soft Air]

Once you are death then who cares....

[hellosailor]

Your best bet is to get a dog, who with any luck will have the usual doggie brains and be smart enough to start an ungodly racket if you fall unresponsive to the floor.

Other than that...some folks on land arrange to have the postal carrier check up on them daily, or they set up some type of routine contact/check with a nieghbor. There are also alarm companies with central stations that can be alerted with a pendant push (a small remote control) to call for aid.

But...living alone, that's one of the risks. You fall down, no one finds you.

[Tempest245]

A dog is a great suggestion. Good companionship for the living too.

How about...raising a lowering a flag each day? ....Honey...I'm home!

Besides obvious misfortune of the early demise, the discovery by a neighbor could be pretty traumatic for them.

My neighbors had not been next door to me for a year, when I left very early one morning on a 3 week trip, leaving my car in the driveway. Upon my return, my neighbors wife chastised me for not telling them I was leaving. Unbeknownst to
me their former neighbor had died in his home and was discovered weeks later.
My neighbor was probably hours away from calling the police, when I arrived home.
She probably would have done so sooner had hubby not dissuaded her.

[delmarrey]

What's that TV show? "Lost" Where after so many hours someone has to reset the clock or something bad will happen.

So, maybe what you need is a clock that sets off an alarm or smoke if you don't reset it ever so often.

Aww! What you need is a Mother-in-law calling all the time!

[SilentOption]

I'm guessing you don't have ex-wives who call daily looking for money they think you owe then hunt your a** down the second they can't get you on the phone.

I would have to die then fall overboard while clutching something really heavy in my cold dead arms to escape those witches.

[jimking100]

Being a solo sailor, I have the same concerns. I explored this and came up with two options:
1. Have someone (family or friend) call daily.
2. Purchase the "Spot" emergency GPS and 911 calling system (It only costs $99 per year). This assumes you have the ability to push the Emergemcy 911 button.
Jim

[hellosailor]

Jim, Spot is designed to work outdoors with a clear line of sight to the satellites, because it uses a very low power transmitter. It might get through a boat cabin (might) but inside a typical home, on the ground floor...I wouldn't bet on it unless I could test it multiple times to make sure it could reach out. If you find it can--please let us know.

[MikeZ]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Your best bet is to get a dog, who with any luck will have the usual doggie brains and be smart enough to start an ungodly racket if you fall unresponsive to the floor.

Ya think? My brother's friend died alone in his out-of-the-way dry-land house. No one there but him and his dog. By the time someone came by and discovered him, the dog had gotten really hungry and ...

Yeah.

We had a friend go through this exact scenario. He fell down the companionway, and broke his neck. It was a couple of days until someone noticed he was missing and came searching for him. Still, I would not want my neighbors looking out for me at quite that level. I like my privacy, and the risk of being injured without rescue is a risk I am comfortable with.
I think, whether on land, or sea, the normal interactions that we have, the communications we have with friends and family, that have become habit, will likely dictate how soon you are found.
Another friend of mine was hiking in the rain forest of South America for a few weeks. His wife got concerned and went to great efforts to track him down and conform he was OK. His response to her? Am I late? Then why are you bothering me?

[hellosailor]

Well, Mike, not to get too far into it but if it wasn't the dog, it would have been bugs. If they were really out of the way--maybe the dog did the best he could, but there was no one to hear it howl. And no big bag of dog chow for it to get into. Nothing's perfect, if it is electronic the batteries may leak. If it is canine...Sometimes they make a mess on the carpet too.<G>

There are many, many trained "service animals" that actually can push a 911 button on a telephone if "master" has a seizure, falls down, or otherwise needs help. Of course, that also assumes the phone lines are working, and that's a less and less reliable assumption in the US these days.

None of which changes the frail realities of life, it will always be easier to have a mishap and die, than to get aid. Even with mandated aid (like defibrillators on planes, and in some states in schools and stadiums) we're still mortal. All we can do is try to stack the odds, and keep the gods happy.

[anjinsan]

Originally Posted by bruce in oz

i've just broken my neck.

granted if i lived in a marina the flies & the smell would probably attract my neighbours attention.

those folk who live nearby on the harbour & i, tend to keep an eye out for each other from day to day, without being intrusive. but it is a day to day thing.

do any liveaboards, not in marinas, especially solo sailors, have safeguards in place for their untimely demise, before the flies/crocs/sea eagles cause attention to be given to their incapacity?

how long will my rotting body lay here before it is discovered or consumed....

All I can say is....Survivors will eat anything, Non-Survivors taste like chicken. And to a dog, everything tastes like chicken!!

[Yesdog]

Originally Posted by SilentOption

I'm guessing you don't have ex-wives who call daily looking for money they think you owe then hunt your a** down the second they can't get you on the phone.

I would have to die then fall overboard while clutching something really heavy in my cold dead arms to escape those witches.

You married the witches.