Today was an eye opener for us to realize why as sailors we need to have a plan in place for unexpected medical emergencies.

A good friend and fellow sailor who shall remain nameless to avoid embarrassment took a bad cut to his leg today after taking a tumble on the boat .

Fortunately the situation was not life threatening and a neighboring boat friend went to his rescue – packing closed the wound and making sure he got the necessary medical care … great job .

After trying to call us on VHF several times we hadn’t responded as we’d turned the radio down in the anchorage due to the constant chatter on 16 and because we were some distance away he came across in his tender to ask if we had contact numbers and a procedure for hospitalization here in Indonesia .

I placed a call to our agent in Indonesia for some advice and he suggested sailing back some miles to the nearest town where there is a hospital.

Ana then suggested that since our friend had medical insurance and an evacuation plan similar to ours why not press the SOS button on either the inReach Garmin or the IridiumGO.

The inReach Garmin has a box that can be ticked for this service at an additional cost to subscriptions for around $50 or thereabouts . It is called SAR50 and covers you for evacuation to the nearest hospital at $50000 per incident and a max of $100000 per year.

The IridiumGO has the service as part of its ‘service plan’.

We provided the emergency numbers to the fellow yacht (also a friend) assisting our injured friend as follows :

+1 936 582 3190

+1 855 444 2937

+1 832 799 6322

These are the emergency GEOS numbers for EVAC and the Rescue Co ordination Center out of the USA.

When the assisting sailor called them he was told the injured party should press the SOS button to initiate the process which is what Ana had suggested in the first place – I was mistaken in thinking the button should only be used in a life / death situation.

The injured friend engaged the SOS button on inReach and this started the process which was incredible to witness.

First they made a call to the Indonesian general Sea Rescue who then passed it on to the local rescue service station closest to the anchorage.

They (the center in the US) also contacted the parties our injured friend had placed as ‘contact for emergencies ‘ to notify them of the situation and process to follow .

Being in Indonesia the local rescue services couldn’t communicate well enough given the language barrier.

As a result we had to ask our agent if he could call them to speak in Indonesian language (Bahasa) and let us know what was happening.

The conversation took place via WhatsApp and then via VHF between the yachts back and forth .

The agent advised they were looking to evacuate him from land, however we knew this wasn’t possible given the terrain so we asked the agent to call them back sending the coordinates and asking if they could do it by sea.

We were told they had dispatched a 500hp 10m rib to evacuate him.

The rib arrived a few minutes ago and through a flurry of VHF back and forth and phone calls we’ve learned how efficient the system really is right up to the point where perhaps there could be a break down in communications due to language at local stations in far away destinations.

Throughout the process the American based coordination center kept everyone on the injured friend’s contact list informed . This is truly a very professional service and as sad it it is for our injured friend we learned a lot about the process, and I thought a valuable share for fellow sailors out there who may find themselves on a similar situation.

So to summarise:

1. Make sure you have MED EVAC insurance – it’s cheap (check out GEOS for this)

2. Make sure you have the contact numbers for this service written somewhere safe such as in your logbook.

3. Make sure you have proper medical / travel insurance to cover the hospital costs and ask if this also covers one for evacuation transportation to hospital.

4. Make sure you know who your contact people are that the center will contact – if you have inReach Garmin or other know the log in details so you can access the site . Even better save the login details on the device you usually use so you can log straight in. Also have the local rescue services numbers and procedures written down in your log book as well as your medical insurance policy and your agent’s or best friend’s contact WhatsApp.

5. Think about how you will keep your boat safe if you are to be evacuated. This may not always be possible but if you have new crew, have details handy for them in this situation. As it happens my injured mate has a brilliant crew member on the boat.

6. Have all documentation ready to go such as : passport, visa papers, insurance details, charger for your phone and travel adapter for mains and money to take along. In case of a serious medical injury make sure this procedure is written down in your log book. If you have crew go through this procedure.

7. Having an agent in Indonesia proved most valuable indeed . It’s an eye opener to us and when the proverbial hits the fan it’s really good to have a competent agent help find solutions and translate for us – I’m going to thank Raymond T Lesmana for being so professional in this and for remaining awake deep into the night to assist .

LAST BUT NOT LEAST AND PROBABLY MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL :

DON’T BE AFRAID TO USE THE SOS BUTTON IF YOU NEED MEDICAL CARE.

Pressing the button will result in a contact from the center and they can assess the level of emergency / evacuation required .

A bit of news : the rescue boat departed with our injured friend after midnight – its props engaged in a fishing net in the dark and ended up stuck on a nearby reef . Fortunately it all ended well and our friend is on his way to hospital – A local translator has been contacted via our agent and a flight to Bali is currently being booked by the insurance company as the local hospital doesn’t have the equipment to deal with the injury.

There’s a lot more I could add here but I think this will get most of us thinking these things through and to have the information at hand should we be unfortunate to find ourselves in a similar situation

A great team effort but it reminds Ana and me of how most times we sail totally alone and in very remote areas that we need to be on our ‘A’ game with all this – and thankfully Ana really is . She has all contact numbers written into the log book and knows the procedures for using them. Remember if you tra vel from country to country, this will be different and you should update your information or add to it. This certainly saves time and could be the difference between life and death in certain situations .

Cheers folks and stay safe