Avistamiento de delfines en Altea COLABORACIÓN ESPECIAL

hyPotherMia
MAn OvERbOARd!
One of the most serious situations
that can occur whilst navigating is
a crew member falling overboard.
Preventive measures are always
vital here, because life is precisely
what is at stake. Both the Captain
and crew (because the Captain is
not exempt from being a victim),
must know the technical details of
both the prevention, as the rapid
and precise actions required, so
that a person falling overboard
does not become a tragedy, which
is considered to happen in 50% of
the falls, depending on whether it is
day or night, the sea conditions, the
atmospheric factors and the water
temperature.
When an accident like this happens,
the Captain’s instructions must be
carried out strictly to the rules by the
rest of the crew, quickly and without
discussion.
In this article, we are not going
to revise technical manoeuvers,
distress signals, etc., aimed to locate
and recover the fallen crew member,
but to centre on the importance
that once the casualty has been
recovered, how to avoid physical
damage to him, that could make
unsuccessful the great effort made
boarding him.
The feared hypothermia that occurs
in these cases is obviously for
immersion and is named so from the
moment that the body temperature
drops below 35ºC, this will depend
primarily on the temperature of the
sea and secondly the time taken
to rescue. We can calculate that if
the water is 5ºC the survival time
ranges from 2 to 3 hours and if the
water is 15ºC this increases up to
about 6 hours. To extend this time
the casualty should not discard
their clothing and if he has a jacket
or something to grip on, try to
MG Magazine 46
move as little as possible in a foetal
position. If the casualty had been
drinking, everything gets a little bit
more difficult because the alcohol
decreases the thermoregulatory
and produces vasodilatation with
subsequent heat loss.
What happens is, to retain heat, the
body responds with vasoconstriction,
not only in the skin but in all the
organs, producing micro heart
attacks as the temperature drops.
Upon reaching 32°C the Central
Nervous System gives the first signs
which causes drowsiness, going
on to faint. At 30°C loss of reflexes
and fixed dilated pupils. At 26°C
can reach a coma. But all of this can
be reversible if we act accordingly
in the first moments. If the body
temperature reaches 20°C this
produces heart failure.
Once the crew member has recovered,
if that’s possible, we should transfer
him urgently to a hospital. If not, we
must resort to different methods to
increase the body temperature.
First aid assistance before the warning
signs of hypothermia are as follows:
The first is to remove wet clothes,
pat dry carefully and place him in a
cabin or in a place free of humidity,
winds or drafts, cover with blankets
and, if possible, immerse in hot
water, if you can’t put all the body,
at least some distal areas (hands and
feet). Make him drink hot liquids (not
alcohol); this helps, together with all
the previous, to reverse the process.
Once all this has been done,
depending on the time that has
elapsed and the state of the patient,
the captain will decide his transfer
onto the mainland for medical
control.
Dr. S. Giménez Artieda