Take A First-Aid Course
If one of your guests falls and hits his or her head on your boat, would you know what to do?
How about if one of your crew develops heat exhaustion? Or has chest pains?
Unfortunately, panic during these frightening situations, and an understandable focus on the injured individual, often lead to a cascade of other problems.
According to insurance files, claims for damage (and sometimes liability claims for injuries that weren't properly addressed) result. The more you and your crew know about how to treat someone who's hurt, the better.
Dreaming of summer cruises doesn't usually include fishhook-impaled fingers, sunburn, or sprained ankles, but we all know stuff happens on the water. Having a first-aid kit is great, but you need to know how to use what's in it, and how to respond if there's a medical emergency onboard. Having a course under your belt will take away much of the stress of an emergency as well as make it more likely your crew (or you) will quickly recover.
The Red Cross offers first-aid and CPR courses around the country, and you can also find American Heart Association courses specifically for boaters that cover extras like carbon monoxide exposure, hypothermia, electric shock drowning (ESD) and seasickness.
Based on an article in BoatUS