Medidistance Medical Training

Updated: Cuts, stitches, syringes and gauze

For the last 2 days, Stephanie and I have been following a training in medical techniques and emergency responses in situations of isolation (in French: ATMSI: “apprentissage aux techniques médicales en situation d’isolement).

We learned how to evaluate the condition of a casualty, to evaluate if there is a risk of loss of life, and how to condition a casualty, how to communicate with a doctor, who is ultimately the only person qualified to establish a diagnostic.

Then came the fun part (which is also the part related to “in a situation of isolation”): doing stitches, inject with a syringe, set splints and casts, cut open, etc. One of the major aspects of the training is also medication, on board pharmacy and how/when/where to medicate if needed.

Learning to suture on a pork foot!

It really were a fantastic two days full of new things to learn and absorb. The instructor, Dr Vincent Delire, is a genuinely interesting and knowledgeable person. He has his own training center, MediDistance, and provides really detailed classes. He’s also a passionate sailor (his own travel blog centers around his catamaran Madgic) and thus knows how to relate to other families and people wanting to set sail.

The added benefit of the training session was that we got to meet plenty of fun and new people. We were approximately 10-11 people, and every single one of the people present had a project to go sailing long-term. It was fantastic to meet such a large and diverse group of people, but still, animated with the same desire to leave shores and set sail for somewhere exotic.

We met Mahjouba and Vincent from SV Omega (hello!), Celina from Yo Lo (hello!), Caroline & Emmanuelle from Gaïanaute (hello!) and Rémi & Alain from Telemaque (heya!).

I can’t wait to get started on this adventure!

Update (Dec 18th 2020):
We’ve just received the transatlantic pharmacy from Dr. Delire in the form of 2 carry-on bags. It’s fantastically prepared package, very well detailed, and very handily packaged for emergency use.

We’ve made a little video showing the composition of the pharmacy. I’ll post it as soon as we’ve settled down a bit.

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