Get The Ship’s Medicine Chest and Medical Aid at Sea for FREE!

Last year I wrote a review and recommended acquiring a copy of The Ship’s Medicine Chest and Medical Aid at Sea (1978 edition) if at all possible.  It’s a US government publication written for a layman to provide medical care on merchant marine ships.  The first edition was written in the 1800s.  As such, there was no ship-to-shore communication and no commercial pharmaceuticals for identifying and managing diseases.  Care providers had to make do with what they had on board the ship, knowing they could be days or weeks away from port and advanced treatment. 

For our purposes, I think the 1978 edition is the best.  Treatment options provide directions for dosing modern pharmaceuticals, including common antibiotics, which naturally wouldn’t be available in editions pre-dating the 1940s.  At the same time, there aren’t instructions to airlift the patient to shore for further care, as is often the case with later editions. 

Unfortunately, the 1978 edition is a little difficult to obtain, especially for a reasonable price.  There are a few copies on Amazon right now, all starting at about $25.  While it’s not excessively steep, most of us don’t have an unlimited budget for preparedness items.  Decisions have to be made.  Corners have to be cut.  We have to make do and sometimes do without.

However, as a reader shared last year, the 2003 edition of The Ship’s Medicine Chest is available online.  Free.  I’ve checked it out.  I still think the 1978 edition is best.  But the 2003 edition may serve you well until you can obtain a copy of the 1978 edition.  It will only cost you for the ink and paper.  (And a binder, I guess, to hold the papers.)  You could even just select the most pertinent pages to print.  For example, if I were only concerned about providing care to my family, I would not print chapters 4 or 6, those dealing with substance abuse and personal preventive practices.  And actually, chapter 8, which deals with bioterrorism, would probably be good for everyone to print, since the topic isn’t covered in the 1978 edition. 

Here’s your address:

https://fas.org/irp/doddir/milmed/ships.pdf

Links to related posts:

The Ship’s Medicine Chest and Medical Aid at Sea review