Every emergency is different, but these tips could help save your life if you're exposed to the elements.
By Kim Kavin
In January, the Bitter End Yacht Club on Virgin Gorda hosted a medical conference designed to help boaters make smart decisions about health issues and onboard emergencies. While every emergency is different and no magazine article can replace the advice or assistance of a doctor, the following questions and answers from the conference offer valuable information that might help you stay safe, or even save a life.
Q: What do you do if someone on your boat is struck by lightning?
A: Immediately begin CPR to re-start his lungs. In many cases, lightning victims' hearts restart on their own. Most lightning victims die from lack of oxygen, not a heart attack.
Q: If a person is shivering from cold, has hypothermia set in?
A: Not necessarily. Shivering in this case is a sign that the body trying to re-warm itself. If a cold person is shivering, the odds are all he needs are a warm blanket and time. If a cold person stops shivering and loses consciousness, he needs immediate medical attention.
Q: What's the difference between heat exhaustion and heat stroke?
A: Heat exhaustion means a core body temperature of 100.4 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Typically, you can reverse heat exhaustion by getting the person into the shade and air conditioning, and squirting or sponging him with lukewarm water. Heat stroke occurs when core body temperature rises above 104 degrees. It leads to seizures, coma, and multi-organ failure. Shivering in this case is an indication that heat stroke is imminent, and that medical attention is required.
Q: If you choose a sunscreen with a high SPF, are you well protected?
A: Not necessarily. Most boaters use only one-half to one-quarter the "tested concentration" that researchers use to determine SPF. To be fully protected, you may need to apply more sunscreen than you currently use.
Q: Can certain antibiotics increase your odds of getting a sunburn?
A: Yes. They include tetracycline (sometimes prescribed as Achromycin), doxycycline (sometimes prescribed as Vibramycin), ciprofloxacin (sometimes prescribed as Cipro), sulfonamides (sometimes prescribed as Bactrim), and nalidixic acid (sometimes prescribed as NegGram).
Q: Can a person suffering from intense seasickness use a VHF radio to call for help?
A: Not all the time. The phase of seasickness that occurs after vomiting can be accompanied by rapid mental and physical deterioration. It can leave you helpless and has been known to extinguish the will to live. The time to call for help is before this phase.
Q: How soon before leaving the dock should you take anti-seasickness pills such as Dramamine and Bonine?
A: One to 12 hours, followed by regular doses
Q: What is cold-shock response?
A: Your body's immediate reaction to being immersed in cold water, say if you fall overboard. Cold-shock response leaves you gasping uncontrollably for one to three minutes, after which the reaction eases. Many people who are said to have drowned from hypothermia actually are believed to have died from swallowing water during cold-shock response. Wearing a PFD is sometimes the only way to keep your head above water during the gasping.
Q: How long will you be able to swim if you fall overboard into cold water?
A: In a place like the Pacific Northwest, you may have just five to ten minutes of meaningful movement before your muscles, joints, and nerves stop working properly. In 64-degree Fahrenheit water, you will lose consciousness in three to four hours. In 50-degree water, it's two hours. In 32-degree water, it's one hour. Once you lose muscle control and/or consciousness, only a PFD will prevent drowning. If you can get to land, or atop a sinking boat, you will have a better chance of surviving in cold air than in cold water—because you can lose consciousness without drowning.
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