At around 1.30 pm yesterday, Sunday, an emergency call was received by the See Rescue Co-ordination Centre of the German Maritime Search and Rescue Service in Bremen. A woman reported that her husband was sailing alone in Lübeck Bay on his 8.50-metre-long sailing boat and had suffered a medical emergency. The 53-year-old was disoriented and could no longer remember the past few hours. He was at anchor about five nautical miles north-east of Travemünde, off the village of Groß Schwansee.
The sea rescue team from the Neustadt in Holstein volunteer station immediately set course for the sailor’s position. At the same time, the rescue control centre alerted the Travemünde volunteer station, whose rescue boat took medical staff on board: the crew of an ambulance from the Lübeck professional fire brigade, as well as an emergency doctor and a paramedic. They were flown by the “Christoph 12” rescue helicopter to the mooring of the sea rescue cruiser.
Rapid assistance in Lübeck Bay
The sea rescue team from Neustadt were the first to reach the solo sailor and provided initial medical care. On the return journey to Travemünde, the medical team from the second rescue vessel boarded the boat and continued to provide medical care. Once ashore, the sea rescue team handed the man over to an ambulance, which took him to hospital.
As early as last Thursday at around 4.30 pm, Bremen Rescue had received a faint distress call from east of the island of Rügen. The message, which was difficult to make out, suggested a medical emergency; the exact position was initially unclear. It was only the Polish ferry “Polonia” that was able to clearly make out the position in a subsequent radio message: the crew were located around 20 nautical miles east of the Baltic Sea island and urgently required medical assistance.
The sea rescue team from the Sassnitz station, a rescue helicopter and the German Navy’s minesweeper “Bad Bevensen” set course for the boat. Given the westerly wind of force 5 and waves of up to two and a half metres, the helicopter was unable to safely lower the emergency doctor and paramedic onto the 7.50-metre-long sailing boat. Instead, the two were lowered by winch onto the helicopter deck of the sea-rescue cruiser “Harko Köbke”. Using a tender, the sea rescue team then transported the medical crew to the stricken vessel. There, they took charge of the man, who was suffering from severe seasickness, stabilised him and transported him to Sassnitz, where he received further medical treatment.
Exhausted windsurfer off Warnemünde
Finally, at around 1.15 pm on Friday, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre received a report of a missing windsurfer. He was taking part in the “Baltic Crossing Challenge”, one of the events at this year’s “Hanse Sail”. The regatta ran from Gedser in Denmark to Warnemünde, some 26 nautical miles away.
It was initially unclear exactly where the water sports enthusiast was. The rescue coordination centre alerted the sea rescue team at the Warnemünde station and a rescue helicopter. It also deployed the coastal patrol boat ‘Warnow’ from the Rostock Water Police Station, the deep-sea rescue tug ‘Baltic’ and the research vessel ‘Elisabeth M. Borgese’ from the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research in Warnemünde.
Thanks to a tracking device worn by all participants, the surfer was found about an hour after the alarm was raised and taken to Warnemünde by the sea-rescue cruiser “Arkona”. The man had been clinging to his surfboard, completely exhausted and already suffering from hypothermia.
How to respond to medical emergencies
In the event of a medical emergency at sea, every minute counts. The first step is always to alert the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre immediately via VHF channel 16, by telephone on 0421 53687-0 or via the digital selective calling (DSC) emergency system. It is important to provide precise position details – modern GPS devices and trackers make it much easier to pinpoint your location.
If a person is unconscious or disoriented, they must be moved out of the danger zone and placed in a stable position. In the event of hypothermia It is important to protect the person affected from the wind and weather, remove any wet clothing and warm them up gently.
Particularly in the case of a Cardiac arrest on board Immediate action is vital for survival. You can find out how to respond correctly on yacht.de.
Take seasickness seriously
And even seasickness is no trivial matter – in severe cases, it can be life-threatening. Vomiting causes the body to lose large amounts of fluid and electrolytes, leading to dangerous dehydration. Those affected should go out on deck into the fresh air if possible, keep their eyes fixed on the horizon and eat small amounts of easily digestible food.
Ginger, in the form of tea or capsules, can help, as can acupressure bands. If severe seasickness persists and is accompanied by circulatory problems, medical attention is required. As a preventative measure, medicines such as scopolamine patches can help, but these must be applied in good time before the trip. Here are ten tried-and-tested tips for preventing seasickness.
Pascal Schürmann
Editor YACHT