You hear the door before you hear the scream: a heavy watertight door swinging on a roll, and a small hand that was resting on the frame. In the same hour a child could fall down a companionway, pull a hot pan off a galley rail, or open a foredeck hatch onto their own fingers. A yacht is a beautiful, hard, hot, heavy environment, and it was not designed for children.
Falls and Head Injury
Companionways, wet decks, flybridge steps, guardrails a child can slip through, and a moving vessel under them.
- Look for: any loss of consciousness however brief, vomiting, drowsiness or unusual behaviour, confusion, unequal pupils, fluid from the nose or ear, a fit, worsening headache.
- Do FIRST: shout, raise the alarm, send someone to the bridge, do not move the child unnecessarily, and get the trained responder. Any head injury on a child gets telemedical advice as a default, not as a last resort.
Crush and Finger Injuries
Watertight doors, hatches, tender davits and lockers are heavy, and they move with the sea. Crush injuries to small fingers are among the most common injuries on yachts.
- Do FIRST: make the hazard safe so it cannot close again, raise the alarm, get the trained responder.
- Prevent: door hooks and latches used every time, hatch stays in place, children never allowed in tender or crane operation areas.
Burns and Scalds
The galley, hot drinks, the barbecue, engine room surfaces, and metal deck fittings that hit painful temperatures in the sun.
| Look for | Note |
|---|---|
| Any burn on a child that is more than very small | Child skin is thinner |
| Burns to face, hands, feet, genitals, joints | Always serious |
| A scald from a hot drink or pan | The classic child injury |
Do FIRST: stop the burning, remove the child from the source, shout and raise the alarm, get the trained responder and telemedical advice. Do not apply anything from the galley to a burn.
Bleeding
- Look for: blood that is spurting, soaking through, or will not stop; a large wound; anything embedded.
- Do FIRST: protect yourself, raise the alarm, get the trained responder and the medical locker. Severe bleeding is a bridge-and-captain event.
The Honest Statement Again
The physical management of a bleeding, burned, unconscious or badly injured child is a practically assessed skill. This lesson teaches you to recognise it and to raise the alarm. It does not teach you to treat it, and it does not make you competent to. Book the certified course.
Onboard Notes
- Hook back every door. Latch every hatch. Every time.
- Treat any child head injury as a call to the bridge and the doctor.
- Know where the medical locker is, before somebody is bleeding on your deck.
- Preparatory study only. Awareness, not first aid training. This course teaches no techniques and does not qualify you to treat a child. A current, practically assessed paediatric first aid certificate from an approved provider is required.