What's standard in your 'medical' onboard kit

[Mathguy42]

In addition to a regular first-aid kit, we always bring a course of broad-spectrum antibiotic for each of us such as Ciproflaxin, and an opioid pain reliever such as Tylenol#3 just in case they should be needed. Of course you need a scrip for these but my doctor obliges when i tell him we are traveling abroad. We only ever had to use the latter, just once, on a trip to the Caribbean, where the item was also available OTC at pharmacies. We also always pack small bottles of Australian tea-tree oil and high-alpine lavender essential oils which are versatile and universal remedies for almost everything from wounds and insect bites to nausea, insomnia and burns, including blisters. Final item is a small thumbnail-size squirt bottle of superglue, which takes the place of a suture kit (ouch! painful!). Superglue was developed to close wounds in medical settings but because the doctors were sticking to the patients they abandoned it. So Superglue re-marketed the product for the general public and there you have a safe and easy to use suture kit for larger wounds. This has saved us hundreds on doctors' visits off previous cruises where we needed first aid and might have been taken to (expensive) sick bay or an ER off ship.

 

The final thing we always pack is proof of travel insurance that includes health situations. Having this can save you much, especially in Europe. Never go without!

 

Happy and healthy travels everyone!

[CI66774]

One question. I noticed that some people pack antibiotics/z-pack. How do you get them? do you just go to your dr and say. "I'm going on a cruise can I have some antibiotics just in case?

 

I'm prone to sinus infections, so my dr. (of twenty years) gives me a prescription, just in case.

[RevNeal]

My medical kit -- the one I listed above -- goes into a men's "toiletries" pack. Between cruises I keep it in my bathroom and if I have need for anything in it, there it is. About 2 weeks before a cruise I take out the kit, open it, sort through it, make a list of anything that needs updating, check for if I need a prescription update, etc., and make a run to the drug store.

 

While many of the items I keep in my kit could be gotten in the infirmary, I simply find it easier to take it with me. It's a hold-over from my Boy Scout years. My Eagle project -- which was done in conjunction with 2 other Scouts --was to set up an Emergency Medical Pantry at our church. My part of the project was the emptying out, cleaning up, and outfitting of a small room in the church to serve this function. I learned about carpentry, plaster and paint, electrical wiring (my Dad was an Electrical Engineer and a Licensed Electrician), and the preparation and laying of a tile floor. Other Scouts had other projects that related to mine in the outfitting of the pantry, and I got to help them in their parts of it as they helped me in mine. It was a fantastic effort for 3 Eagle Scouts and (30 years later!) the pantry is still in existence and being used at that Church!

 

One of the things I learned in the process was all the various kinds of items that would be needed to outfit such a pantry; that was an expansion from what I learned for first aid in Scouts. From that, and with some cruising experience, I developed my portable medical kit for traveling and cruising. There have been cruises where I didn't take the full kit; on one of them I definitely needed it, and so since then I've never gone without it.

 

Now that I'm writing about this, with just a couple of months to go before my next cruise, I think I'd better start getting my kit ready. :D I've not looked at it in nearly a year. I know some of the drugs in it will need to be updated, and at least 2 of them will require new prescriptions. I have a superb doctor -- who also likes to cruise -- who has no problem with writing me such prescriptions. He knows my background, my caution in taking medications, and my attention to detail on such matters. Over the years he's made several suggestions for adjustments to my pack -- mostly additions to it -- and has changed antibiotics on me more than once.

Edited February 4, 2015 by RevNeal

[visagrunt]

I travel with a marine first aid kit that includes the standard collection of bandages, sterile gauze, surgical tape, crepe bandages, gloves, alcohol swabs, topical antiseptic preparations, common instruments and the like. It's lightweight, fits in a knapsack and has everything at hand. In addition I always carry an ear bulb, hydrogen peroxide and isopropyl alcohol. I'm prone to cerumen buildup and I would be incredibly miserable if my ears blocked!

 

As for medications, my standard collection includes:

 

1) Any current prescriptions (including antimalarials, if appropriate)

2) Acetominophen/paracetemol and T3s

3) Ibuprofen

4) Naproxen (I respond better to this than to methocarbamol)

5) Pseudoephedrine cold remedies (e.g. Sudafed or Tylenol Cold & Flu)

6) Hydrating nasal decongestant mist (primarily for flying)

7) Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) (I respond pretty well to this, as opposed to loratadine (Claratin)).

8) Benzocane (orajel) for tooth and gum aches

9) Diclofenac (voltaren gel) for injury to muscles or joints

10) Loperamide (immodium) for diarrhea and Pepto-bismol for mild digestive symptoms

 

I am not prone to motion sickness, so I don't carry antinausea meds.

 

I don't carry antibiotics--unless I hold a current prescription for them. Given the wide variety of infections one can come up against during foreign travel it's not possible to carry a "just in case" collection. Further, it's wasteful, because unused antibiotics should always be disposed of--taking expired antibiotics is just a recipe for developing drug resistant infection. However, people with a history of repeated infections of a particular type, or people who are sensitive to a wide range of antibiotics might well benefit from carrying a "just in case" prescription for appropriate antibiotics. Each traveller and their physician are in the best position to judge that.

Edited February 4, 2015 by visagrunt

[Wakepatrol]

I pack my Dear wife, an R.N. She has it down. Z-Pac antibiotics, TripleAntibiotic ointment, 'knock me out' pills for that Worst-case fracture or sprain, Afrin, Advil, Benedryl, Immodium, itch lotion with Lidocaine, Duct Tape, Nail clipper tools, and more. Locomotiveman

 

I always take a z-pack as well. Which antibiotics do you bring?

[Wakepatrol]

Yes you can. You have to have a doctors exam first for him to prescribe it if he feels you need it

 

 

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If you stop in Mexico I think you can buy almost any antibiotic, there's usually a store right at the port.