Customer Reviews

Advanced First Aid Afloat: A Guide for Yachtsmen and Small Boat Skippers Who Venture Beyond the Range of Immediate Professional Medical Assistance

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm very happy to be the first reviewer of this, but a little suprised since it means there are a lot of sailors who don't know what's in this great book.

Levinson and Eastman (both physicians and active sailors) did a great job laying out serious medical problems in a way that even I can understand them. Also, they give readable scenarios that help put these accidents in context. A good example is the opening chapter, which goes into a story of a helmsman who wasn't paying close enough attention, and from an accidental jibe, suffered a head impact from the boom, leaving him out cold on the side deck.

Situations like that are real, and the authors have certainly laid out sound and solid advice for keeping your crew (and yourself) safe. The only reason I'm dinging a star from them is because I wish it could have been a bit bigger to cover even more.

I am surprised that no one has mentioned that this book is written in a wonderfully dry sense of humor that can help take the shock out of traumatic situations. Dr Eastman's M.A.S.H. background shows through.

For example, his chapter on burns begins:

"Your trawler, 'Nomad', is rolling along in a heavy following sea, half way between Turtle Bay and Cabo San Lucas, at a comfortable 10 knots. It's 1200 , Tuesday: the galley slave lights off the fires for lunch.

"A maverick wave tosses 'Nomad' onto her beam ends. there is a scream below and the cook skyrockets up the companionway, hair and clothes ablaze.

"First, put out the fire. Don't get burned yourself. Roll him on the deck, wrap him in foul weather gear-anything that's handy.

"He sits on the cabin floor; he shivers with fright and pain, an awesome sight - hair and eyebrows singed away; bits of burned clothing hanging on his chest and tummy. He smells like an overdone steak.

"1. Control pain and fright.
a. Cover all burned ares with cool towels, wrung out in fresh water if you have it).
b. Give him 100 mgms (2cc) of Demorol by I.M. injection (see Fig 7)."

... and so on.

I am not a doctor but both my sister and brother in law are and both are sailors. They say the advice is spot on and bang up to date.

I can't recommend the book too highly.

Good hands on emergency medical text which could save a life. Details handling much more serious crises than typical first aid books. Have your physician check it out, however, and recommend appropriate updated meds. The author's list is out of date and in some cases is no longer appropriate.

We have three or four first aid books on our cruising boat and usually look at them all. On any given topic one seems to have more to say than the others. Still, this is a good one and I would buy it again.

Excellent book. It might actually contain what I need to know if an accident happens while single handing. compliments Merck manual (home edition).

I was very pleasantly surprised with how nice the book is, how quickly I recieved it and how cheap it was. Thanks for the great service!