Medical Kit Provisioning for Vessels

Vessels are getting bigger and traveling further than ever before. Everyone is looking for that perfect remote destination. Deciding what medical supplies to have aboard is unfortunately not at the top of the list when preparing the vessel. Knowing what to look for in a medical kit can be a daunting task.

In my 25 year career as a nurse, I often helped my patients make important informed decisions by giving them facts, discussing the risks, benefits and alternatives available. I hope my insights here will assist you when purchasing medical supplies. These are guidelines on what to look for and what to avoid when purchasing a medical kit.

First, let me say that while you can provision a vessel yourself with medical supplies, it is time consuming, will often be lacking essential items and likely cost much more to assemble than a commercially sold kit. The commercially available kits are packaged to save space, be shock and water resistant and contain what you need to cover a wide variety of medical situations. If you must do it yourself, consult a medical professional and look at a wide range of commercial products for ideas, before you proceed.

First, when choosing a medical kit, it is time and distance from professional care that will determine how extensive your medical supplies will need to be. Many maritime organizations such as MCA, IMO, STCW,  have established requirements and guidelines as to what supplies are required.

If your vessel travels distances greater than 150nm from shore and will often be days away from land or in regions of the world where professional medical care is rudimentary or unavailable, it is recommended that you have an extensive medical kit that contains supplies and medications suitable to sustaining life for 24-48 hours. The closer to shore you travel, the fewer supplies you will need.

Another factor to consider in kit supply is the number of persons that will be aboard, and lastly, consider the age and health histories of passengers and crew on board. Additional considerations would be to look at what other activities will you engage in while aboard such as fishing, diving, skiing.

There are many companies that sell medical kits. Commercially sold medical kits come in all sizes and price ranges but they vary widely in content and quality. Below are a few guidelines to assist you in choosing what is best for your vessel.

•    Does the kit contain medicines? Some kits contain only “over the counter” type medicines. Does it have prescription level medicines such as adrenaline and antibiotics? Look carefully and ask questions, sometimes the medicines are sold separately. You will be asked to provide the proper paperwork if prescription medicines are provided.

•    Comparable kits will have comparable prices. If the prices are wildly different you are probably not comparing apples to apples. You usually do get what you pay for and this is not where you want to cut corners.