Provided by: DeliveryCaptain.net / By Tom Lochhaas, About.com Guide

On land, help for an injury is usually only minutes away, but sailors need to be more self-sufficient and prepared for injuries that are common on boats. The best thing is to take a CPR and first aid course and keep a good first aid manual on the boat with your first aid kit.

Following is standard first aid for three of the most common boating injuries: bleeding, head injury, and hypothermia. Remember the key principles to keep an injured crew alive until they receive medical care.

Bleeding

There are lots of ways to be cut or lacerated on a boat, especially when being tossed about by wind and waves. Most bleeding can be easily controlled, but bleeding that pulses from a lacerated major artery can become life threatening. Follow these steps.

-If you have time, cover the bleeding wound with a sterile dressing from the first aid kit or a clean cloth. Skip this if the blood is coming out fast.

-If you have time, to reduce the risk of infection, put on medical gloves from the first aid kit or put a plastic bag over your hand. (Or if the bleeding victim is conscious and able, have them use their hand instead of yours.) Immediately apply pressure directly on the wound, pushing as hard as needed to stop the bleeding.

-Keep the pressure on for at least 5 minutes. This is often long enough for minor bleeding to have stopped, and you can now bandage the wound.

-If the bleeding continues and has soaked through the dressing or cloth over the wound, apply more dressings on top of the first (do not remove it) and continue to apply pressure.

-To maintain pressure on the wound to control bleeding in an arm or leg, wrap a pressure bandage around the limb to keep the pressure on the wound. But don’t wrap so tightly that you cut off circulation – you should be able to slip one finger under the bandage.

-Seek medical attention as soon as possible for severe bleeding. The wound will need to be cleaned and may need stitches to heal properly.

Head Injury

Head injuries occur frequently on sailboats – such as being hit by a swinging boom or being tossed about below in the cabin by a sudden wave. Most head wounds are minor, although bleeding from the scalp can be profuse. Control bleeding with pressure as described above (except if you feel that the skull is fractured, do not press against broken bone).

If a person struck in the head is knocked out, or even is dizzy and disoriented for a minute, the injury is serious enough to warrant attention. The person likely has a concussion. Even if the symptoms seem minor at first, a concussion can become more serious over time, so it is important to take steps right away:

-With a serious head wound, or for an unconscious victim, call for help.

-With a minor head wound but possible concussion, have the person lie down and remain still.

-Protect the person from becoming chilled or overheated.

-Most important, do not let the person, even if symptoms seem to have passed, engage in any activity with the risk of another blow to the head. Even with a seemingly minor concussion, second impact syndrome may occur – a condition in which a mild concussion can become a very serious or even fatal brain injury.

-If symptoms of even a minor head injury worsen, seek medical attention as soon as possible.

Hypothermia

It is said that hypothermia (often called “exposure”) kills more boaters than drowning, which is the “official” cause of death in most boating fatalities. Once hypothermia begins to occur in cold water, the victim often can no longer hold on to something or tread water to stay afloat.

Hypothermia is a serious condition even when a person is pulled from cold water still alive, and it can occur also in cold or wet weather to someone exposed while on the boat. Age, illness, and the use of alcohol or drugs all increase the risk of hypothermia.

A cold person shivers as the body tries to generate more heat. If shivering becomes uncontrollable – and especially when it stops altogether – hypothermia has become severe. The person likely seems drowsy, confused, lethargic – and may become unconscious. Follow these steps:

-If a victim is pulled unconscious from the water, give CPR if you have been trained. People have been resuscitated after a long period underwater in cold water.

-Get the person out of the cold, remove wet and cold clothing, and cover them with blankets.

-Have the person lie still. Do not try to get the person moving around in a misguided effort to warm them up.

-If the person is alert, give a warm (not hot) drink (but not alcohol or caffeine).

-Important: rapid rewarming can cause a serious heart problem. Do not put the person in a hot shower. Only if far from help should you even put warm water in containers against the person’s skin.

-Do not massage or rub the person’s skin in an attempt to warm them up. Be very gentle. Like too-rapid rewarming, rough handling can cause heart problems.

-In all but very mild cases, a victim of hypothermia needs medical attention. Get the Coast Guard on the radio and describe the person’s symptoms, and they will advise the appropriate action.

Learn more about the first aid for other common injuries and illnesses.

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