Boating / Marine

The SURVIVAL Marine Scale G First Aid KIT is built to meet that requirement. It pairs a nationally compliant SURVIVAL Workplace First Aid KIT with a purpose-built Marine Scale G Module and the award-winning First Aid Emergency Handbook, all housed in a large SURVIVAL Waterproof Box.

Which scale applies to you depends on your vessel class and your operation. Check the current AMSA requirements for your survey category rather than assuming.

WHY MARINE FIRST AID IS DIFFERENT

Three things change on a boat.

Water gets into everything, so a KIT that is not properly sealed is a KIT that has already failed. Movement makes fine work hard, so anything requiring a steady hand is harder than it is on land. And you cannot walk away, so you are managing the situation for the full run back to the ramp.

That last one is the big one. A deep laceration ten minutes from a boat ramp is inconvenient. The same injury two hours offshore is a different problem entirely, and the SURVIVAL Trauma First Aid KIT is what covers it.

WHAT FLOATS AND WHAT DOES NOT

The Ocean Warrior First Aid KIT was made with Australian big wave surfer Mark Visser and is built to float. It fits a small compartment on a jet ski or a boat, or a backpack, and carries a waterproof dry bag and a CPR card alongside the dressings, shears, swabs and wound closures.

The Ocean Warrior First Aid KIT with Tourniquet adds the ability to stop serious bleeding, which is the one thing a small marine KIT usually cannot do.

OFFSHORE VERSUS THE ESTUARY

An afternoon in the estuary with a boat ramp in sight is a light KIT and a phone.

Offshore, or anywhere out of phone range, and your KIT is the treatment rather than the stopgap. Carry the depth for a serious injury, carry a way to raise the alarm that does not rely on mobile coverage, and make sure someone other than the skipper knows where the KIT is.

BITES, STINGS AND THE THINGS THAT GET YOU

Fish spines, hooks through fingers, and stings are the everyday marine injuries, and they are more common than anything dramatic.

Pressure immobilisation is the treatment for a cone shell sting, the same technique used for snake and funnel-web bite. The SURVIVAL Snake Bite KIT covers all three and is worth carrying if your boating involves going ashore. SURVIVAL recommends proper first aid training alongside any KIT.

Also see Fishing, Surfing and Outdoor.