When it comes to safety and first aid, boats pose a unique challenge: professional medical help is often far away and difficult to reach. While every effort should be made to get seriously injured passengers or crew to medical help as quickly as possible, everyone who spends time on a boat regularly should be knowledgeable and well supplied when it comes to coping to injuries or illness on the water.

Customize Your First Aid Kit for Boating

Before you embark on a boat trip, ensure the boat is equipped with a fully stocked first-aid kit. Your kit should contain many of the same items you’d keep in your medicine cabinet at home, but it should also plan for the expected boating hazards of sun, wind, water, motion sickness and water-related activity.

Once you have your maritime first-aid kit assembled, remember to check it at the beginning of each boating season and replace anything that has been used up, is damaged or is out of date.

At a minimum, your maritime first-aid kit should contain the following important elements:

• Antihistamines such as Benadryl for allergic reactions
• Stomach remedies to prevent or treat motion sickness, indigestion, diarrhea, or heartburn
• Sunblock with an SPF of 15 or greater
• Insect repellant
• Lotion to treat insect bites, sunburn, and other minor skin irritations
• Pain and fever reducers, such as aspirin, acetaminophen, ibuprofen or naproxen
• Adhesive bandages in assorted sizes as well as butterfly bandages for larger cuts
• Individually wrapped, sterile gauze pads (2″ and 4″) to control bleeding, and adhesive tape to hold it in place
• Padding and splints for broken bones or other injuries, and roller bandages to support strained muscles
• Chemical ice packs
• Eye drops and eyewash
• Antiseptic ointment, spray, or towelettes for cleansing wounds
• Antibiotic ointment to prevent infection of minor wounds
• Bottled water to rinse wounds
• Clean towels to control bleeding or as a wrap for ice
• First Aid Handbook

Order First Aid Supplies

It’s a good idea to purchase a maritime-related first-aid cabinet and contract with a supplier to keep it well-stocked. A supplier like 1stAidSupplies.com can provide first-aid kits that can be wall-mounted on the boat, in the workplace or anywhere else first aid might be required.  Give us a call at 818-838-7000 ext. 104 or visit our website to shop for all your first aid supply needs today!