The last two weekends were the crew has been gathered to work on the Sea Stallion the nurse, Susanne Malmstrøm has also been teaching first aid.
”There is a huge risk of accidents on board the Sea Stallion. Space is tight, there are a lot of people and the gear on board is extremely heavy,” says Susanne Malmstrøm.
She is hoping for a safe journey without any major accidents, but the experience from last years test sail to Norway showed that it is impossible to avoid injuries. The crew members will inevitable get cuts and bruises when the ship is sailing.
The fear of blood clots
The ship is fully equipped with modern medicine boxes like those seen on ship is the mercantile marine and the equipment makes it possible to handle a great number of accidents on board the Sea Stallion without accidence.
”I’m not nervous about broken arms or legs – that’s easily taken care of because of our well-equipped medicine boxes. But the ship will also have 24 hour radio contact to a doctor specialized in emergency medicine from a helicopter and he will be on stand by during the entire sail. And the Sea Stallion can get in contact with the international Radio Medical, where doctors by radio offers help and advise for treatment of any disease possible,” says Susanne Malmstrøm.
The nurse is more worried about serious cases, like a crew members suffering a blood clot on open sea for example.
”Just the thought of that gives me sleepless nights! It is a situation I would like to avoid – we know what to do, the problem is that help is far away. If we are lying in the middle of the North See, it will take a least two hours before at helicopter will reach us. And if the weather is rough evacuation of a patient will be extremely difficult, not to say even impossible”.
The mast is blocking the way
For the people flying the helicopter the biggest challenge on board the Sea Stallion is the of 13 metres and the rig – meaning the rope on the ship.
Therefore, taking down the mast has been part of the safety training last year. Now the crew knows the routine and can take it down in only eight minutes.
Besides the cuts and bruises crew members get from working on board the Sea Stallion another challenge for the health is hypothermia. The weather can be tuff on open sea, even during summer and especially in an open ship. Last year people brought cloves and winter hats to use on the cold night watches, even though a heat wave had taken over the southern parts of Scandinavia. The danger of hypothermia is that it can lead to mental disturbance causing grave mistakes during sailing.
Looking out for each other
”One thing is the physical first aid – in my teaching I have also accentuated the importance of mental first aid. It’s extremely important that we look out for each other and take care of each other – especially does who are sick and need rest or sleep”.
A so-called ’Buddy system’ were to crew members are looking out for each other and ensures each others well- being has been introduced on board the Sea Stallion. In a crew of sixty five it is unfortunately easy to miss someone and that why the system has been introduced. The system is equally important if the crew is going to be evacuated in case of shipwreck. Every crew member must make sure their buddy is with them when they leave the ship.
