Buy or Restock Your First Aid Kit for Your Boat
While fishing or boating are relatively safe and fun ways to enjoy the beautiful waters of the Alabama Gulf Coast, it’s best to be prepared for the occasional mishaps that could require attention before you get back to the dock.
A quality first aid kit should be included in your essential equipment for the boat. Kits are plentiful and are designed for short inshore trips or overnight ventures into the Gulf of Mexico.
A boaters’ first aid kit should include the essentials, like bandages, gauze, medical tape, scissors, aloe gel for sunburn, aspirin, acetaminophen (Tylenol), antibiotic cream, tweezers, alcohol cleansing wipes and nitrile gloves.
For a kit that won’t break the bank, you can find one for less than $20 that will include those items and possibly a few more.
Go online and search for kits in that price range and you’ll find the Xpress All-Purpose First Aid Kit that covers all the essentials and adds a few more – butterfly wound closures, tongue depressors, first aid guide, sterile eye pad and sting relief wipes. The only drawback is it needs to be stored in a waterproof container.
Another kit in that price range is the Be Smart Get Prepare First Aid Kit with 303 pieces of treatment products and comes in an impact-resistant case.
Stepping up a notch is the Swiss Safe 2-in-1 kit that adds a six-pack of glow sticks, a cold pack, a whistle and a compass.
The Goglobe Boat Safety Kit includes much more than just a first aid kit. It adds a multi-tool with pliers, a lockback knife, flashlight, a distress flag and a throw bag filled with 60 feet of floating rope.
For a safety kit with a waterproof case, consider the Windrider Marine Safety Kit, which has your basic first aid kit and adds a whistle, multitool, distress flag and an electronic floating flare.
One extra item that every boat that ventures into the Gulf needs, according to John Giannini at J&M Tackle in Orange Beach, is a set of small bolt cutters.
“I consider a pair of bolt cutters essential equipment when I go into the Gulf,” Giannini said. “They don’t have to be expensive. You can find them for about $15 or so. What you need the bolt cutters for is when somebody gets hooked. The larger hooks are hardened and are difficult to cut with regular pliers. You just push the hook through, clip off the barbed end with the bolt cutters and pull the hook out.”
Better to be safe than sorry on your fishing trip in the productive waters of the Alabama Gulf Coast, so find the first aid kit that fits your boat and your needs before launching the boat.
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