First aid kit

[storm petrel]

Had a chance to use the first aid kit today. Sailing around a cargo ship about 6nm off Barrenjoey (15-20 knot NE small seas) one of my motley crew decided to trawl a line and after a few hits managed to pull in a very big salmon. Now Jacko is a keen fisherman but even he doesn't like eating salmon so he said he would give it a kiss and throw it back. The salmon had different ideas and stayed firmly attached to the hook while it expressed it's unhappiness about being hauled aboard a Top Hat doing 5.5 knots. I went below and passed Jacko a pair of stainless plyers and was packing up the tool kit when I heard an expletive from the cockpit. When I looked up I saw Jacko, who was on blood thinners after a stroke, had managed to put the hook deeply into his shin.

When the hook was removed the puncture wound started to spurt blood like a fountain. After applying pressure to his raised leg we opened the first aid kit for the first time in 5 yrs and applied a surgical pad and about 2m of tight bandage which eventually stemmed the flow. After Jacko predicted he would live, I washed the blood out of the cockpit with a few buckets of water and we continued our sail. When we passed in front of the ship we noticed three large seals resting quietly on the bow bulb of the anchored ship. This is the first time I had seen this and I wondered if it was common seal behaviour or was it because of the large school of salmon that was around the ship?

Moral of the story is that it pays to keep your first aid kit up to date, because you can never predict when it may be needed.

Cheers,
Mark

[Brainless]

I have seen seals resting on the rudders of the coal ships off the coast here, I think they just find a comfortable spot they can rest before continuing their journey

[Democritus]

Certainly..but 5 years is way too long..though better than a smack in the ear...Just buying a first aid kit does not really suit a specialty use..does not have splints for example...You should think through possible demands and the environment for a sailboat kit an check it at every out going or every say 6 months...to bring up to date.Wise also is to be trained in first aid including distance.