Radio aid to ships at sea.
OBJECTIVE
To review the first 30 months' experience in providing medical advice by radio to the masters of vessels in the Indian and Southern Oceans. The Department of Emergency Medicine at Fremantle Hospital has provided this service since October 1987.


METHODS
Details of all cases were collected prospectively.


METHODS
The master of the ship communicates with the senior medical staff in the Department of Emergency Medicine by telex or radio-telephone.


RESULTS
Seventy-five patients were discussed in 30 months. They were aboard 68 ships from 17 nations. Forty-eight patients has spontaneous illnesses, of which 41 were classified as medical and 7 surgical. Twenty-seven patients sustained injury. The most frequent medications advised by the doctor were analgesics and antibiotics. In 12% of cases, the doctor recommended that the ship change course significantly in order to discharge the patient to medical care. In another 11% of cases the patient was discharged at an unscheduled but nearby port, although not all of these diversions were urgent.


CONCLUSIONS
Despite the difficulties in assessing a patient one cannot see, most illnesses can be diagnosed with a reasonable degree of certainty and useful treatment can be instituted aboard ship. Improving communication systems make the task easier, but variation in the contents of the pharmaceutical cabinets aboard ships is a problem.
Mark
P D
PD
Department of Emergency Medicine, Fremantle Hospital, WA.
Hodge
J A
JA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003142:Communication; D004631:Emergency Medical Service Communication Systems; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D008875:Middle Aged; D009326:Naval Medicine / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011845:Radio / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012767:Ships; D014904:Western Australia