Unpopular opinion: Standard marine first aid kits are basically just expensive security theater

Posted by TightPublic3143@reddit | sailing | View on Reddit | 98 comments

I was talking to a skipper friend recently about an incident where a crew member took a bad spill while totally out of cell range. They had the giant, expensive offshore medical kit, but when the panic set in and blood was flowing, everyone just froze. Nobody knew what to actually do with half the trauma supplies inside, and they couldn't just Google it.

It got me thinking: a box of supplies is completely useless if your brain freezes during an emergency and you have zero connection to the outside world to guide you.

Am I overthinking this, or has anyone else had that terrifying "we have the tools but no idea how to use them under pressure" moment offshore? How did you handle the isolation?