Author Description

This Handbook describes accepted first-aid practices that, along with practical training in their performance, will aid boat crews in delivering effective medical care that preserves life, prevents a victim's condition from worsening, and promotes their speedy recovery. The major topic within this handbook is basic First Aid. The capability to sustain the life of those who have been rescued is just as important as searching for and rescuing survivors. Vessels at sea are often far removed from advanced medical care and are reliant on the Coast Guard and other professional maritime responders to provide first aid for those suffering a sudden illness or injury. This aid includes both initial interventions and transport to higher levels of care for serious conditions, such as performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) while making way toward a waiting ambulance on shore, and complete treatment of minor conditions, such as applying a dressing to a wound. Certain skills are considered essential to providing this initial level of care, particularly those related to the "CAB's" or compressions, airway, and breathing, which focus on critical life-saving interventions that must be rendered before treatment of less serious injuries