Cruising medicine chest on board
Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2016 11:23 am
Onboard Medicine Chest
A few years ago my wife and I went scuba diving in Pemba (amazing spot, BTW!), a little island off the coast of Tanzania. We were on a small liveaboard anchored in a shallow cove on the west coast of the island, and diving on the reefs offshore off a rubber duck. To cool off during the hottest hours of the day, we would just jump over the side, and climb back onboard up the ladder. On the first day, the poor girl developed an allergic reaction to... something! It started on the inner side of her forearms; no blisters, but blotched and discoloured skin, quite ugly looking really. Within 12 hours, it had extended to her torso and neck, and she was was a bit feverish. I had some antihistamines on my travel bag, over the counter stuff for hay-fever, which did not help. She was very uncomfortable, and the prospect was to abort the trip and go back to Dar-es-Salaam (via Zanzibar) to seek treatment there.
We searched for the culprit everywhere on the boat; bedding, food, any potentially toxic materials or products on board she may have come into contact with. There was no distinctly localised lesion on her skin, so I deduced it could not be a sting from a marine organism, and being anchored in the middle of the bay, there was little chance of a biting insect getting to us. I even checked carefully the inside of our wetsuits, just in case we had picked something up from the ocean in the previous dive. Nothing!
As luck would have it, that day came onboard a couple from the UK. A medical doctor and his wife that were trekking across Africa on a sabbatical. The guy (shame, can't remember his name!) looked a my wife, produced two innocuous looking pills from a bag, and presto....the following morning she was feeling well enough to dive again!!
This episode impressed upon me the importance of having a well equipped medicine chest on board when cruising.
The long story above comes into context because I am now planning a long cruise, and need the help of experienced long distance cruisers (particularly those with a medical degree/training) to put it together, beyond the regular content of any first aid kit, or pre-existing conditions of the crew.
Constraints as follows:
Geographic area: tropical and sub tropical (i.e. unlikely I will ever have to treat for frostbite).
Specific conditions and/or medicine groups:
# Topical antiseptics (powder or cream form) for skin lesions, abrasions, burns, sweat itch, etc.
# Stings and bites; anything from blue bottles to horse flies, not shark attacks!
# Antihistamine and general anti-allergenic compounds (as per the story above).
# Dehydration, sunstroke, sunburn.
# Food poisoning, diarrhoea, nausea/vomiting, constipation.
# Digestive track cramps, period pains, etc.
# Products that will keep me awake – something stronger than caffeine... Not asking for advise on mind-altering substances. Rationales is having to stay awake and alert for 24 hrs to cope with unexpected bad weather.
# Topical and/or internal anti-inflammatory compounds – sprained ankles, damaged knees, twisted thumbs, tendinitis, that sort of thing, short of a downright bone fracture
# Antibiotics/antibacterials. This is a very wide topic, I know, so I'll try to narrow it down with a few conditions: (1) eye, ear, sinus infections, (2) fungal infections – wet skin, finger nails, etc, (3) infected wounds from coral, rock, shell cuts, sea urchin spines, fish hooks, etc, (4) urinary track infections, (5) tooth infections/abscesses
# Pain killers – not necessarily opiates, but stronger than paracetamol.
Ok, above but a few. Any other out of your experience that I have not thought about, please instruct me!
Repeat, the purpose of this exercise is not to equip a bush clinic, but to put together an emergency get-me-out-of-trouble, mostly symptomatic, medicine kit that will allow me to get to where I can seek qualified medical care if required.
Many thanks in advance for your input and advise on this topic!!!
And now, the conclusion of the story..... Eventually, I found out who the culprit was. In time, I too developed a rush, exactly in the same place my wife did at the beginning, the inside for my forearms and wrists!! It was only a slight skin rush on me, but too much to be a coincidence. I was evidently reacting to something. I tracked it down to climbing up the boat ladder after one of my cool-off dips. Sure enough, encrusted on the side bars of the ladder was a covering of orange coloured sponge. In grabbing the side bars and pulling myself upwards on the ladder, the inside of my forearms was rubbing against the sponge, right in the place were the rush developed!!
A few years ago my wife and I went scuba diving in Pemba (amazing spot, BTW!), a little island off the coast of Tanzania. We were on a small liveaboard anchored in a shallow cove on the west coast of the island, and diving on the reefs offshore off a rubber duck. To cool off during the hottest hours of the day, we would just jump over the side, and climb back onboard up the ladder. On the first day, the poor girl developed an allergic reaction to... something! It started on the inner side of her forearms; no blisters, but blotched and discoloured skin, quite ugly looking really. Within 12 hours, it had extended to her torso and neck, and she was was a bit feverish. I had some antihistamines on my travel bag, over the counter stuff for hay-fever, which did not help. She was very uncomfortable, and the prospect was to abort the trip and go back to Dar-es-Salaam (via Zanzibar) to seek treatment there.
We searched for the culprit everywhere on the boat; bedding, food, any potentially toxic materials or products on board she may have come into contact with. There was no distinctly localised lesion on her skin, so I deduced it could not be a sting from a marine organism, and being anchored in the middle of the bay, there was little chance of a biting insect getting to us. I even checked carefully the inside of our wetsuits, just in case we had picked something up from the ocean in the previous dive. Nothing!
As luck would have it, that day came onboard a couple from the UK. A medical doctor and his wife that were trekking across Africa on a sabbatical. The guy (shame, can't remember his name!) looked a my wife, produced two innocuous looking pills from a bag, and presto....the following morning she was feeling well enough to dive again!!
This episode impressed upon me the importance of having a well equipped medicine chest on board when cruising.
The long story above comes into context because I am now planning a long cruise, and need the help of experienced long distance cruisers (particularly those with a medical degree/training) to put it together, beyond the regular content of any first aid kit, or pre-existing conditions of the crew.
Constraints as follows:
Geographic area: tropical and sub tropical (i.e. unlikely I will ever have to treat for frostbite).
Specific conditions and/or medicine groups:
# Topical antiseptics (powder or cream form) for skin lesions, abrasions, burns, sweat itch, etc.
# Stings and bites; anything from blue bottles to horse flies, not shark attacks!
# Antihistamine and general anti-allergenic compounds (as per the story above).
# Dehydration, sunstroke, sunburn.
# Food poisoning, diarrhoea, nausea/vomiting, constipation.
# Digestive track cramps, period pains, etc.
# Products that will keep me awake – something stronger than caffeine... Not asking for advise on mind-altering substances. Rationales is having to stay awake and alert for 24 hrs to cope with unexpected bad weather.
# Topical and/or internal anti-inflammatory compounds – sprained ankles, damaged knees, twisted thumbs, tendinitis, that sort of thing, short of a downright bone fracture
# Antibiotics/antibacterials. This is a very wide topic, I know, so I'll try to narrow it down with a few conditions: (1) eye, ear, sinus infections, (2) fungal infections – wet skin, finger nails, etc, (3) infected wounds from coral, rock, shell cuts, sea urchin spines, fish hooks, etc, (4) urinary track infections, (5) tooth infections/abscesses
# Pain killers – not necessarily opiates, but stronger than paracetamol.
Ok, above but a few. Any other out of your experience that I have not thought about, please instruct me!
Repeat, the purpose of this exercise is not to equip a bush clinic, but to put together an emergency get-me-out-of-trouble, mostly symptomatic, medicine kit that will allow me to get to where I can seek qualified medical care if required.
Many thanks in advance for your input and advise on this topic!!!
And now, the conclusion of the story..... Eventually, I found out who the culprit was. In time, I too developed a rush, exactly in the same place my wife did at the beginning, the inside for my forearms and wrists!! It was only a slight skin rush on me, but too much to be a coincidence. I was evidently reacting to something. I tracked it down to climbing up the boat ladder after one of my cool-off dips. Sure enough, encrusted on the side bars of the ladder was a covering of orange coloured sponge. In grabbing the side bars and pulling myself upwards on the ladder, the inside of my forearms was rubbing against the sponge, right in the place were the rush developed!!