Due to a recent event, I have determined that I need to identify our boat, at the docks or out on the water, to local Emergency Medical Services. If an ambulance ride is required identifying the patient on slip E-6 is just about useless to people not familiar with the marina layout.
I thought about mounting a 12 VDC strobe light on top of our radar arch with emergency push buttons inside the boat.
Your thoughts and how other people address this scenario where you may not get a do-over.
If a strobe, what color ??
But if you're not at a marina....
+1 on an accepted SOS light. That is the only currently accepted light for distress by USCG - white flashing SOS. The portable one mentioned can be hoisted up a mast, stuck in a rod holder, etc. It flashes a Morse SOS pattern. Some searchlights have the ability to flash the SOS pattern too - we have a Jabsco searchlight on NWD that does. Here's a link to a video that shows a light that looks a lot like ours and works the same way...
The portable SOS strobe is good, at least at night, it needs maintenance to ensure it will work. The SOS searchlight is also good at night and is pretty visible during the day if they're coming from the direction its pointing. A distress flag for daytime is a must have. We have one on NWD, its with our emergency gear and easily accessible. (I have two gym bags for emergencies. One is the Oh S**t bag and the other is all our first aid equipment.)
In planning for emergencies, I always assume the worst. IF I can call for help, I might not be able to stay on the phone or radio to direct them - a patient might need continuing first aid. So have something you can turn on and forget. AIS is helpful, USCG and some local jurisdiction boats have it, but not all. If they don't, it can still be helpful if there are other boats in the area who do and can help direct responders to you.
This is a place where a handheld radio at the ready is good - you can at least monitor and maybe even talk to the responders on marine VHF if you are with a patient away from the fixed radio. Don't think a cell phone will help EMS find you. Cell phones are notoriously difficult to pin down by emergency responders. As in my previous post for the fire department - you, your crew, and your cruising partners should hold some impromptu training on what you'll do in different emergencies. Our partners need to be able to drive the boat, make radio calls and understand them, use our first aid equipment.
This is also the leap off point for discussion of personal or boat EPIRBs, but I'm not the one to talk about them as I have little working knowledge of them at this point. Its something I plane to explore before the Admiral and I start doing more cruising into remote areas, but we aren't there yet.
The Admiral and I took a cruising class this spring that we thought would brush us up on a few things, and give us some ideas on itinerary planning for going north. One of the gems we came back with is envelopes on board for everyone, even guests, with medical history, emergency contact, and insurance information. Your guests can seal them, and take them off the boat when they leave, but if the worst happens and your mate or best friend is getting hoisted off your boat, that envelope goes with them and could save their life. We're implementing that on NWD. We have guests aboard from other countries and friends that we may not have all their medical history, and we both have medical history or drug allergies that we may not be able to relay to a medic crew before our partner is off to an unfamiliar hospital.