Why a Marine Kit Is Different

On a powerboat you are often hours from an ambulance, the deck is moving underfoot and everything you own is quietly damp. A household first aid kit will not survive a season afloat — cardboard boxes turn to pulp, paper sachets disintegrate and plasters lose their grip the moment they meet salt water. The kit you carry needs to be genuinely waterproof, well organised and stocked for the injuries that actually happen at sea rather than the ones that happen in a kitchen.

The practical answer is two kits. A compact grab bag lives in the cockpit or helm console, clipped where you can reach it one-handed. A larger main kit stays sealed and dry below, out of the sun. Every crew member should be shown both before you slip lines, not after somebody has gone over the side.

Cuts, Grazes and Serious Bleeding

Most marine injuries are hands: rope burn, a filleting knife, a prop or a sharp edge of stainless. Start with several pairs of nitrile gloves and a 500ml bottle or a handful of 20ml sterile saline pods for irrigation. Antiseptic is for the intact skin around a wound, not for pouring into it.

• Sterile gauze swabs, non-adherent dressings and waterproof plasters in assorted sizes
• Sterile wound closure strips for clean, straight cuts that will not stay closed
• Two or three trauma or field dressings for heavy bleeding, plus a windlass tourniquet as a genuine last resort
• Cohesive bandage, medical tape, blunt-ended shears, splinter forceps and a tick removal tool
• Eye wash pods and an eye pad, because spray, fuel and rust flakes all find their way in

For a bleed, press firmly and directly with a dressing and hold it — do not keep lifting the corner to peek. Add more dressings on top if it soaks through, elevate the limb if you can, and note the time if you ever apply a tourniquet. Any wound that is deep, dirty, or caused by something rusty or barnacle-crusted deserves a conversation with a medical professional about tetanus cover once you are alongside.

Burns and Scalds

Burns on board usually come from a galley stove, a hot exhaust, a kettle or a flare. Cool the area with clean, cool water for at least twenty minutes if your fresh water supply allows; seawater is an acceptable emergency substitute but fresh is kinder to tissue. Remove rings, watches and tight clothing before swelling begins, then cover the burn lengthways with cling film — never wrap it tightly around a limb — or with a purpose-made burn gel dressing.

Do not use ice, butter, toothpaste or any old wives' remedy. Treat burns larger than the casualty's palm, any burn to the face, hands, feet or airways, and anything that looks white, waxy or charred as a mayday call. Burns to the airway, with singed nose hairs or a hoarse voice, escalate quickly.

Seasickness and Dehydration

Seasickness is miserable rather than dangerous, until it stops someone drinking and they become dehydrated and useless on deck. Prevention works far better than cure: hyoscine patches need to go on behind the ear four to six hours before departure, while cinnarizine, promethazine and cyclizine tablets are best taken well before the first wave. Once vomiting has started, tablets may not stay down, so keep oral rehydration salts, flat ginger and a supply of something plain to nibble.

Keep the sufferer warm, on deck, looking at the horizon and ideally steering — having something to do genuinely helps. Never let a seasick crew member go below alone to sleep it off; check on them hourly for hydration, and remember that the quietest person on board is often the one who needs attention most.

Cold Water and Hypothermia

Cold shock is the real danger in UK waters, and it happens in the first minute of immersion: gasping, hyperventilation and a racing heart. If someone goes in, talk to them constantly, get them out horizontally rather than dangling vertically, and shield them from wind immediately. Cold incapacitation follows within ten to thirty minutes, when fingers stop working and swimming becomes impossible.

• Cut wet clothing away rather than pulling it over the head and neck
• Insulate the whole body, especially head, armpits and groin, using a space blanket, foil bag and dry sleeping bag
• Handle them gently — rough movement can push cold blood back to the heart
• Give warm, sweet drinks only if they are fully alert and able to swallow
• No alcohol, no rubbing the limbs, no hot bath or direct heat on extremities

If they become drowsy or unresponsive, check breathing constantly and be prepared to start CPR. A pocket mask or CPR face shield belongs in the kit, and a defibrillator on board is worth its weight if you have the space.

Know It Before You Need It

A kit is only as good as the hands that open it. Check expiry dates at the start of every season, replace anything that has been opened or water-damaged, and keep a laminated inventory inside the lid so nothing quietly disappears. Consider a recognised first aid course aimed at seafarers — casualty care, CPR and hypothermia management are all practical skills that fade without practice.

Finally, remember that you are not alone out there. For anything life-threatening, send a mayday on the VHF; for urgent but non-critical injuries, a pan pan will get you medical advice over the radio. The coastguard would far rather talk you through a problem early than hear about it in a lifeboat launch. Build the kit, learn it, and brief your crew — that is what turns a box of supplies into genuine confidence afloat.