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Errors in judgement...

4K views 41 replies 29 participants last post by  Tim R. 
#1 ·
Well, I have been boating a long time as everyone knows. It doesn't keep me from making an error in judegement sometimes...

We went out last Saturday night on a friends 68' power boat to watch the boat parade. Had a great time. On the way back in, we helped him tie to the dock but the wind was blowing us off. I secured the stern while another friend of mine secured the bow. The captain (he is a friend) got out of the cockpit to resecure the lines on the bow the way he liked them and apparently kicked the boat into forward. I screamed for him to stop but he didn't hear me. I quickly made my way to the stern cleat that was made fast and tried to get the line off before he jerked out the cleat. I only made it halfway.

In something less than a millisecond, the line tightened and before I could get away, the cleat blew off. FOr those that have never seen that happen (especially on a large yacht), it sounds like a cannon and comes out like a bullet. It hit my middlefinger, twice on my wrist, and tore into my forearm faster than I could pull my arm away.

SPent the rest of the night in the ER. Luckily (and miraculously), I did not shatter any bones. I think that is because the cleat went across the top of my arm instead of directly into it. I did partially tear my bicep and tricep and now find myself waylaid in St Pete for a month or two until I can heal. Bit of a bummer beacuse we were heading to the keys in the next couple of weeks.

THe morale of this story is obvious: don't get anywhere near a cleat that is being tensioned. But another morale is that accidents can happen on the water quicker than we can react. Luckily I was near an ER and they took care of me. But if I had been in a remote location, I would have had to tend to this injury on my own. I immediately thought about what we had in our med kit to stop what was a LOT of bleeding, and how I could secure my arm if it were shattered. Did Kris have the knowledge to bandage me up? Would the kids have had it and known what to do?

Just a thought to those who are in the offseason (and certainly those who are not) to take a peek at your onboard medical kit and books. Do you have sufficient supplies for where you are sailing and time-to-help? Is your medkit well stocked and is it in a VERY easy to access location? When an accident like that happens, I can guarantee you that the person hurt will not be much use for medical advice, and the person doing the patching will need to think fast. Trying to track down a med kit or figure out where your supplies are could mean the difference between life and death.

In my experience, I find many cruisers carry lots of extra engine parts, lots of extra lines, a few fenders here and there, of course every tool imagineable... but the items most often overlooked the most are their medical kits and knowledge of them. A few bandaids and some trip-antibiotic doesn't cut it. You cannot think of your medical kit in terms of how many miles you sail offshore. I hear that all the time and it is wrong. You have to think of it in time to rescue or hospital. For example, you might be anchored off an island only a few miles from the mainland, but your time to rescue could be a half a day or better.

I know everyone here will immediately think they would never make the same mistake I made. Hey, I hope not. Just remember, I know better than to do it too, and knew better before I did it. I guess my point is that even those of us who have done this for a long time make stupid errors in judgement. That will never change, and even the oldest salt amongst us will screw up at times. What is important is that we have the equipment and skills to deal with most of those mistakes, especially when cruising. Because let me tell you, when it happens (especially if it is to you), you will not be thinking clearly.

Just some food for thought...

Brian
 
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#2 ·
Wow! That's frightening, CD. Glad your injuries weren't even worse. Both tips are appreciated. I don't know that I would have thought of that consequence from an overloaded cleat.
 
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#3 ·
Brian,

I could have stitched up your arm, slinted it, administered some pain killers (from a bottle) and supplied you with 10 days of antibiotics. I have three first aid kits onboard, one of which I can't seem to locate right now, but the big guys with all the goodies are readily accessible.

Guess you won't be here this season, at least prior to my departure on March 1.

Good Luck,

Gary :cool:
 
#4 ·
Jeeze Brian--Hopefully that injury will heal without lasting effects. I'm sure that was profoundly painful and regret your suffering.

On the matter of First Aid, even as I type our first aid gear sits on the counter in my work-shop having been gone through last evening and expired medications removed for replacement (later today at our pharmacy) and bandages, wraps, and various supplies checked for continued effectiveness with a list of necessary replacements made up. Unfortunately, in southwest Florida, the conditions will deteriorate First Aid supplies fairly rapidly, even if well stored, so they require annual up-dates and I suspect the same may hold true in other venues. For example, my (much) better half reacts very badly to stings/bites, so we must carry supplies of Epinephrine in single dose injectors as a safety precaution for her but the heat on the boat when we're not aboard renders these ineffective reasonably quickly so they must be replaced often. Other antibiotics and analgesics are also effected by the heat and must be watched/replaced at regular intervals. Our kit is fairly extensive as we often go off the beaten path (or did) so updates are not--unfortunately-inexpensive, but necessary.

Beyond the foregoing, having the supplies on board is not enough. One needs to know how to use them effectively. For this one needs take a few of the classes on First Aid offered by the Red Cross, at the least. Although I was trained in emergency medical procedures in the military, that was a l-o-n-g time ago so my wife and I, and my daughter, have taken several of the First Aid classes offered by our local Red Cross. We also participate in a volunteer civilian "First Responder" program in our neighborhood/community that was begun after 9/11, that has annual training and refresher courses that we find quite useful. On board ship, potential injuries are not inconsequential and being able to deal with them is extremely important, but such skills often seem to be overlooked. They should not be.

Good luck Brian. Hopefully you will have a fast, full recovery. (And stay the heck away from motor boats! No good ever seem to come of them.)

FWIW...
 
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#6 ·
Glad you weren't hurt any worse.

Besides the issue of first aid, there's the fact that some people have a problem with what I will call "first reactions." That is, they see a cleat pulling out and their first reaction is to try to grab at it, instead of realizing that it is a very dangerous situation and they should just get out of the way.

My wife has this problem. We've talked about it several times, but she just can't seem to do anything about it. For example, if a knife slips out of her hand in the kitchen she'll reach out and try to catch it.

No, no, no. If a knife slips out of your hand you GET OUT OF THE WAY AND LET IT FALL!!! This has happened to her three times now in the nearly 30 years that we've been married, and she got really nasty cuts (like, head to the ER) one of the times and needed a bandage or two the other times. She just can't stop herself from acting on that "first reaction."

Another one was one Christmas (in Denver) when her father stepped out of our front door onto a sheet of ice, slipped and fell. Her first reaction was to run out after him, to try to help. Of course, she slipped and fell also. I saw it happening, and knew I couldn't do anything to stop it. I stepped out slowly and gingerly to help both of them. Luckily, that time, neither was hurt too seriously.

And, please understand, CD, I am not criticizing your for what you did. I'm just saying that in all of life, but especially in activities like sailing, there are times when we need to realize that stepping back and letting something bad happen is better than following our first reaction and putting ourselves into even more danger.
 
#16 ·
Hey.... don't apologize!! I criticize me too!!! I know better. I mean, I KNOW BETTER! It was one of those things that I did instinctively without thinking. DUmb, and I sat down with my kids the next day, told them what happened (they were with us but on top deck) and told them not to make my mistake.

But in all of this, my point is that we all will make mistakes. Yo9u can't stop mistakes... but you can prepare for them.

Brian
 
#7 ·
See what yo get for being on a ********! Plus the middle finger! ;) What are you going to do?????

Seriously though, that really stinks. Thanks for sharing...good reminders about first aid kits and how they are often not well thought out or stocked.

Wishing you a full recovery, get well soon, I have no doubt
 
#17 ·
See what yo get for being on a ********! Plus the middle finger! ;) What are you going to do?????

Seriously though, that really stinks. Thanks for sharing...good reminders about first aid kits and how they are often not well thought out or stocked.

Wishing you a full recovery, get well soon, I have no doubt
Shawn, my old friend! Good to see you around. Hope you are doing well???

Brian
 
#9 ·
Brian,
Good tip about the first aid kit. I'm going to bring mine home and go through it.

Sorry this lesson had to cause so much pain. Just remember to lift Fatty with the other arm :D

Jim
 
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#10 ·
Here's a question to go along with Brian's suggestion.

Have any of you found a first aid book you'd recommend for a novice?
 
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#19 ·
Brian, sorry to hear of your injuries and pain...may you heal quickly and fully. Thanks for the first aid reminder, a course at the Red Cross would be beneficial to those who've not taken one before.

Hope you still make it to the Keys, I'm in Marathon and had hoped to meet you in person. I'll leave around the second week of February so maybe...

Thanks for sharing and I hope the Fatty referred to is a Fat Tire beer.
 
#20 ·
Holy crap Brian!... glad you're not too seriously hurt.

I've seen a freighter take out a 4 foot cleat from a dock because the crew didn't allow enough slack for the tide rise... these behemoths have a lot of buoyancy force!! Took the backing plate, several feet of dock timbers and tried to launch it all into space. Fortunately it was middle of the night and no workers were around.

Had a crew member catch a broken turning block in the hip while standing in the bight while trimming the kite.. good bruise and luckily not more.

You're right.. stuff happens and sometimes you get 'lucky' and sometimes you don't..

Take it easy and heal fast.
 
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#23 ·
I tell you this Ron. It was a 68 foot boat, and everyone knew when that thing came out... even the people inside and over the diesel engines. It sounds like a cannon and I am not exhagerrating. If it were to hit someone in the head, it would kill them. Scary was that where it hit me was exactly the same height as Glen's head. He usually hangs with me too. Thank the Lord he was not with me that night.

ANyways, its all good. If that is the worst thing that happens to me boating, I will consider myself blessed.

Brian
 
#21 ·
Brian,

Yet another gem of advice from your experiences -- you continue to give until it (literally) bleeds...

BTW: Although I know it must have been a tremendous effort to type this one-handed, there is a silver lining: you've got waaaay fewer typos -- :D

Hope the recovery goes well and fast, and that you manage to avoid those sadists (AKA physical therapists...)
 
#22 ·
Fin, thank ya. But just so you know, there is more than ONE silver lining: You can't do laundry one handed! Or wash the boat! Or do dishes!

Ahh, yep, I think this may be a long, painful, debilitating injury. Terrible. Just terrible! And I feel even more terrible I won't be able to help with the chores. I did so enjoy doing laundry too...

On a bright side, I can grill one handed.

Brian
 
#25 ·
"ring the ambulance"
Decades ago I was in a CPR Instructors course and they kept giving me grief because "You keep forgetting to call 911" until I reminded them "When you call 911, you get me".
I've got half a nail on my big toe and a dent in my calf from where I thought I could fend off a 40' boat drifting into us a couple months ago. Even the admiral asked "What were you thinking, if at all?" DOH?
 
#27 ·
We all make split second mistakes. And almost every time, given time to actually think about it, there's no way we'd do it.

Avoiding lines and deck gear under tension was drilled into my thick skull by the Navy. I worked tugs for about two years and it only took one snapback before nobody ever had to remind me again. Most often when we make mistakes what we are doing is trying to avoid the giant pain in the ass we see coming, instead of focusing on the danger.

Case in point, one time when hooking up a bow line from the tug to a destroyer, there wasn't enough line (coming from the tug) to get the eye on the bitts up on the destroyer's deck. The weight of the bight pulled the line free of the linehandlers' hands up on deck. As it was running for the bullnose, a line handler tried to snatch up the line before it fell through and down into the water. When he did that, the weight of the running line drug his hand across the non-skid deck and took one of his fingers off. He instinctively tried to capture a running line in order to save a lot of time and effort, when given half a second to actually think about it he would never dream of doing such a thing.

Impending doom always seems like it is happening in slow motion. That shows you just how fast we actually react to things. Our reflexes can be a lot quicker than our logic.

Brian, I'm happy to hear things turned out as well as they did. While the result was still terrible, it could have been catostrophic- not to mention tragic for a wife and a couple of kids.
 
#29 ·
Damn Brian...hope you recover quickly.

We have mega first aid kits on the boat.

They contain...Splints...foam pads...epi...15 types of bandaids...ACES...plaster of paris...slongs...ER technique books...surgical needle and thread....surgical adhesive..Oxycodone...Wiskey---

And I never leave the dock without my own private nurse:p:p
 
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#31 ·
Damn Brian...hope you recover quickly.

We have mega first aid kits on the boat.

They contain...Splints...foam pads...epi...15 types of bandaids...ACES...plaster of paris...slongs...ER technique books...surgical needle and thread....surgical adhesive..Oxycodone...Wiskey---

And I never leave the dock without my own private nurse:p:p
BWAHAHA! Me too!

Brian
 
#30 ·
Cheeses old mate .... that is most unfortunate. Though you were warned in the "sons first car" thread about the dangers of powerboating.

Presumably that means we are graced with your presence for the foreseeable future ?

Oh joy unbounded. :p

Ref First Aid .... The Wombet and I did a course a year or two back, probably ready for a refresher though to be honest they are to my mind somewhat lacking re application for sailors. (see Mark's post). Wombet's brother is a medico so he's been of some assistance is setting up kits. Reality is that most kits fall down on quantity. When the Wombet decided to pour a pan of boiling water over herself a few years back it did not take long for us to run out of burn dressings. Most first aid kits seem to work on the presumption that help or at least a pharmacy is nearby.
 
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#32 ·
Sorry to hear you got hurt.

Stuff like this could happen to anyone & it always seems to happen when you least expect it or can afford it.

Time to chase the painkillers down with a little jack daniels :D
 
#34 ·
Brian,

A close call! You've highlighted another reletively invisable maritime danger we're all frequently exposed to. 'Happy to hear that all you lost was a little blood and mobility for (hopefully) just a little while.

I (like many, I'll bet) am spending hours reading SN threads, vicariously sponging-up all I can to augment my experience and inform my judgement. Hopefully, it'll help me escape the errors I've yet to make.

How about a new forum titled: Staying Alive - Lessons Learned. There are obviously a thousand examples to support denverd0n's notation that "stepping back and letting something bad happen is better than following our first reaction and putting ourselves into even more danger".

Scott
 
#35 ·
Sorry to hear you are hurt CD! :(

I am glad it wasn't any worse than it was, sounds like just a few inches more and it could have been much more serious. Could have been much more serious too if it had hit you in the chest or something, pretty scary thought.

Good advice about keeping the med kit up to snuff and handy.

Hope you feel better soon.
 
#36 ·
Thanks for the post. You have made a positive out of your own pain. It is easy to tell what the other guy did. As always it is hard to point to our own hardships. The hour at hand is the one that matters. The hours logged are behind us. May you be blessed and have your good health return. Regards Lou 452
 
#37 ·
I'm more worried about how to install good judgment into my kids and guests. I guess I learned about the dangers of livestock and heavy equipment because of my old man and my 9-fingered shop teacher constantly drumming it into me. I can do that to my kids, but my friends won't stand for it.

This summer I was out with my parents and my kids on my dad's 22' inboard/outboard, when I suddenly heard a tremendous racket from the engine. I looked behind me and THE BLOODY IDIOTS HAD THE HATCH UP WHILE WE WERE UNDERWAY!! I immediately shut the engine down and my dad and I were screaming, while my mom and daughter were just looking at us with slack jaws and wide eyes saying "what? what?". Apparently my daughter couldn't find her bracelet, and thought it might have fallen into the engine compartment, so my mom opened it right up so they could look... They were one step away from "oh, there it is!" and tragedy. *shudder*

So that's one error in judgment they probably won't repeat. I hope. I have not had the opportunity to scream at them about lines under tension, or putting their body in the path of a moving object with more mass than their own. Shame there isn't somebody I can hire to do it for me all at once, like a driver's ed teacher.
 
#38 ·
Sorry to hear about your mishap, Brian. Very generous of you to turn it into a post that many here can learn from; some good stuff in this thread.
 
#39 ·
I'm a doc. Wife's a nurse. Things we don't see in other first aid kits which I suggest IMHO are.
an epi pen -for serious anaphylactic ( allergic) events
snake bite kit- yes you will spend time ashore.
opiates- shock and pain will kill. give ASA and opiate to M.I. victims. Ask PCP for small amount
volume expander- e.g. I.V.set up and colloid. save lives in event of blood or other other extreme volume loss.
benzodiazepine- break seizure ( Diastat etc.)
one of the various devices to maintain respiration in unconcious person
Due to the lawyers I DO NOT suggest any of the above but you should think about these things and your ability to handle these agents and yourself in an emergency

Every one should take one of the basic CPR courses. eventually you will be a first responder.
 
#40 ·
opiates- shock and pain will kill. give ASA and opiate to M.I. victims. Ask PCP for small amount
Not to question a doc, well, I guess I am questioning a doc .. but, is this true, can you really die from pain ? Shock from blood loss I can understand, but I don't think that was what you meant since opiates wouldn't help that.

Edit, and apologies for going off on a tangent on this thread, hopefully it won't go off topic.
 
#41 ·
Ouch!
Your lucky it did not hit you in the head because that might have bent the cleat! :) :)
Get well soon DAD!
The boys want to get out of there.
 
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