In distress at sea: Sailor rescued off Travemünde

It was shortly after seven o'clock yesterday evening when the 74-year-old woman suddenly collapsed lifeless at the helm of a 13-metre yacht. Her husband immediately made an emergency call. At the time of the accident, the boat was at the Brodtener Steilufer about two nautical miles north of Travemünde.

Until the rescue boat stationed in Travemünde arrived, an emergency paramedic radioed a second female sailor on board to guide her through the resuscitation measures. The sea rescuers then took over the resuscitation. While still at sea, a shore rescue team arrived shortly afterwards and was brought to the yacht by a pilot boat.

After the use of a defibrillator by the sea rescuers, the patient's pulse and breathing could be determined. After further medical measures by the emergency doctor, her situation stabilised.

The extent to which the first aid measures taken by the crew of the sailing yacht saved lives cannot be determined. However: "In this case, where every minute counted, many things were done correctly," said DGzRS spokesperson Christian Stipeldey. "A radio message was sent out immediately with all the important information about the situation, which enabled the crew on board to be deployed quickly and advised."

In addition to radio channels 16 and 70, Stipeldey recommends that all skippers also save the number of the sea rescuers (0421 536 870) in the speed dialling function on their mobile phones and call the App SafeTrx to be installed. The medical service is always manned in the emergency control centre and can give instructions on first aid measures by radio or telephone.

Automated external defibrillators are carried on all sea rescue boats. "If you follow the instructions of the voice in the device, you can't go wrong," says Stipeldey.

Defibrillators are now part of the standard equipment in many harbours, and sometimes such a device, which is not much bigger than a sheet of A4 paper, can also be found on board yachts. Instructions on how to use a defibrillator, can be found here.

The case shows once again that sailors should always be able to administer first aid. How to treat the most common injuries on board, are shown in this article (click here).

Downloads:

Medicine: First aid kit by Torge Fahl (pdf)