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First aid kit on board: what to pack, and who pays the doctor abroad?
Short answer
Pack the first aid kit for your cruising area, your crew and the length of the trip,
ideally with your GP.
After an illness, a doctor, a hospital or a flight home abroad is a matter for travel or health
insurance, not for boat insurance.
At sea the nearest doctor is further away than ashore: a few hours on a passage across the Irish Sea or the Bay of Biscay, sometimes days on a longer crossing. A well stocked first aid kit on board lets you deal with small injuries yourself and bridges the time until help arrives with bigger ones. What goes in depends on your cruising area, the number and age of the crew and how long you are away. For a private pleasure boat there is usually no fixed list, but the MCA medical stores categories for commercial vessels are a useful reference, and many charter bases abroad expect a basic kit.
A sensible basic kit holds dressings in several sizes, plasters, sterile pads, a crepe bandage, wound disinfectant, tweezers, scissors, disposable gloves, a thermometer, a foil blanket and instant cold packs. Add remedies for seasickness, pain and fever, diarrhoea, sunburn and insect bites, eye drops and a burn gel. If you sail further or for longer, pack splints, wound closure strips and any prescription medicines you may need; put those together with your GP, who can also explain when and how to use them. In an emergency HM Coastguard can put you through to medical advice over VHF.
Keep the kit in a waterproof box, mark where it lives and add a contents list with expiry dates. Check it before every season. Regular medication for each crew member belongs on board in double quantity, part of it in the grab bag. Note allergies and conditions of everyone aboard on one sheet the skipper knows about, and take an RYA First Aid course so someone knows what to do with the contents. As for insurance: for illness, boat insurance pays no medical bills. After an accident, our Premium accident cover pays necessary medical costs up to 50,000 euros within Europe and 100,000 euros outside Europe. Every crew member needs travel or health insurance that applies on board. A GHIC or EHIC opens state healthcare in many European countries, but it is not travel insurance and does not bring you home.
Worth remembering
First aid kit
treats until help arrives
Health insurance
pays doctor, hospital and the flight home
One you pack, the other you arrange before you leave.
Questions
What owners ask us about this
Is a first aid kit compulsory on a private boat?
For a private pleasure boat there is usually no fixed legal list of contents. A kit is still sensible on every trip, and many charter bases abroad expect a basic one on board.
Who pays the doctor if I fall ill while cruising abroad?
Not your boat insurance, but your travel or health insurance. Check that it applies on board and at sea, and that it pays for a medically necessary flight home.
Who should help me choose the medicines?
Your GP, particularly for prescription medicines on longer trips. The GP can also explain when and how to use each one, which matters when the nearest pharmacy is days away.
Related
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