Onboard Medical Care

Traveling far and wide is quite appealing, but what to do in case of a medical emergency? A number of superyachts have onboard hospitals and a full-time physician traveling with guests and crew. Realistically, most people do not have these kinds of resources available aboard their yachts.

Several companies are offering products and services geared to the yachting set. Ocean Medical International, in business since 1991, specializes in providing remote medical care. It creates and sells medical kits geared to different types of boating (for tenders, sportfishing boats or yachts). It designs them according to the distance traveled and other factors. It also provides telemedicine and monitoring devices.

Offering a similar service, is Dr. Michael J. Hall, a Miami-based physician with recreational boating and travel experience. His bring-aboard medical kit, the Hall MEDpac, is best described as a “hospital in a suitcase,” a tool designed to allow minimally trained people to tend to medical emergencies. Hall, who has worked for the Center for Disease Control and is active in the Army Reserve, has traveled to exotic locations and designed his medical kits to provide life-saving first aid in the most remote places, including the jungles of Sri Lanka. A yearly subscription to a built-in satellite uplink allows connecting to medical professionals who provide guidance on how to use medications and tools to stabilize fractures, suture wounds or any number of other medical interventions. Each kit is made to order, according to existing medical needs and itinerary.

For more information, visit oceanmedicalinternational.com or hallmedpac.com

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