Program topic: First Aid, CPR, and Safety Outdoors
Speaker: Kimery

Date: July 2019

Key Points: The key to water safety is to develop layers of protection by learning CPR, first aid, wearing life jackets, and being prepared.  Kimery suggested that people read about “real life scenarios” to help prepare for outdoor emergencies.

Signs/Symptoms of Cardiac Arrest:  This is also known as a heart attack.

Left and/or Right arm pain

Jaw pain

Pale or ashen (gray) colored skin

Shortness of breath

Sweating/Diaphoresis

Chest Pain

Nausea & vomiting

Unconsciousness

Women may feel that the pain is indigestion

If someone on your boat experiences these symptoms, the first thing to do is to call for help. You can also provide a chewable aspirin (baby aspirin – 81mg). They can take up to 4 aspirin.  Kimery suggested that you know your passenger’s health history and any medications that they may be on and that they have those available for an emergency.  You should also take a CPR class to assist the victim until emergency personnel can get to them.

Signs/Symptoms of a Stroke:  A stroke can be triggered by a blood clot in your brain.  If the clot is in the right side of the brain, the left side of the body will be affected.  If the clot is in the left side of the brain, the right side of the body will be affected.  The FAST method is used to assess for a stoke:

F – Face:  Ask person to smile – look for drooping or asymmetry of the smile.

A – Arms:  Ask person to put their arms out in front of themselves, palms up & try to raise their arms up towards the sky.  Can they raise both arms?

S – Speak:  Can they talk?

T – Time:  Get emergency assistance as soon as possible.

If the person fails even one of these, contact 911 and get the person to the hospital as soon as possible.

Kimery said that it is very important that you tell emergency personnel the last time the person was “normal”. The duration of the stroke is required for emergency staff to know to administer medication.

Sprains/Breaks:  The key question to ask if you are trying to decide the difference between a sprain or a break is “Can they use it?”   Can they lift something or can they bear weight?  This should help you determine if they should “stay and play” or “load and go”.

Pain Scale:  It is helpful to gauge the amount of pain a person is in.  The pain scale runs from 0 to 10, with 0 being no pain & 10 being the greatest pain level the person has ever felt.  You should listen to the patient and convey that information to emergency personnel.

Basic Water Rescue:  Your boat should be equipped with a throw rope.  If someone falls overboard, you can throw the rope to them.  They should grab the rope, turn around (on their back) and you can pull them back to the boat (backward).  Kimery recommends that you should wear a well fitting, buckled Coast Guard approved life jacket at all times on your boat. 

Heat Related Illnesses:

Heat Cramps – Signs/Symptoms is painful muscle cramping caused by a deficiency in electrolytes.  You can help prevent heat cramps by eating or drinking food/fluids heavy in sodium, such as pickle juice, V-8 juice or salted almonds.  If you experience heat cramps, you need to make sure to re-hydrate yourself.  Kimery also suggests that you use a squirt bottle so you can spray yourself with the mist.

Heat Exhaustion –  Occurs when your body overheats and your body’s cooling mechanism fails to maintain a normal core body temperature. Signs/Symptoms include headache, thirst, dark (gold) urine or lack of urination, dizziness, irritability, pale skin, heart pounding (your blood pressure goes down and heart rate/pulse increases). Treatment includes evaporative cooling, taking in electrolytes (something salty).  Water can make you nauseated.

Heat Stroke – This is a medical emergency in which your body’s core temperature is greater than 104. You should determine if the person affected has a change in level of consciousness.  You should ask the person:  their name, where they are, the time and date.  If they can only answer 1 or 2 of these questions, they have had a change in their level of consciousness. You should use rapid cooling (Ziploc bag with ice applied to head, groin, and/or arm pit).  It is important to get the person to the hospital as soon as possible.