Boat Emergency Kit Essentials You Can’t Leave Home Without (Helpful Tips & Graphics Included!)

Boat Emergency Kit

Heading out in the boat for the day? Make sure you have the boat emergency kit essentials rescue crews wish you would carry.

I’ve spent decades as a registered nurse in emergency rooms and see firsthand how underprepared people can be when they head off to their adventures.

Are you prepared to fend for yourself if you’re miles offshore? Or, just out of sight or earshot of someone who could help in an emergency?

This post is all about the boat emergency kit essentials you can’t leave home without.

First Aid Kit for Boats

I recently went fishing for the day on a friend’s fishing boat. Since I live in the woods, where there are frequent dead zones for cell phone service, I’ve equipped our entire family with trauma kits (and the training that goes with them) that are properly stocked for serious injuries.

For our day of lake fishing, I brought along my emergency kit in case we had a mishap:

(Images: my bulky emergency kit along for the ride…better safe than sorry)

There are so many first aid kits available, that most people just buy the pre-made kits and call it a day. If that floats your boat (pun intended!), let’s take a look at what’s available out there.

This one is waterproof, specifically put together for boating adventures, and approved by the U.S. Coast Guard:

(See The Marine 350 Waterproof First Aid Kit Here)

Itemized Contents List:

• Emergency blanket to prevent hypothermia
• After Bite wipes
• Pain & Fever Reducers such as Aspirin, Ibuprofen, or Acetaminophen. If you choose to keep a medicine cabinet in your emergency kits, be sure to watch for their expiration dates. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, expired medication is the “most common deficiency” found in first aid kits.
• An antihistamine such as Diphenhydramine (commonly known as “Benadryl”, but any generic Diphenhydramine will do). This is a must, in my opinion, because you never know when someone is going to have a sudden allergic reaction. And if it’s a bad one, could involve the airway and breathing. For those of you prescribed an epi-pen for life-threatening allergic reactions, please don’t forget to carry it (a PSA from an ER nurse who has treated too many of these forgetful patients!)
• A  motion sickness / anti-nausea medication, such as Meclizine 
• “Marine Medicine: A Comprehensive Guide” – Seems like a good idea & selling point, if you ask me, especially if you don’t know what to do with all the items in your pre-made first aid kit.
• An Anti-Diarrhea medication – we only buy this as needed in our house, and rarely at that. My thoughts are that if something needs to explosively leave the body, why stop it? The exception would be getting dehydrated (feeling thirsty, having dry lips & mouth, or getting dizzy upon standing)
• Assorted bandages
• Antibiotic cream
• Burn cream
• Wound closure strips
• Cotton swabs
• A wound irrigation tool – I do not waste money on this or saline irrigation flushes – we pack bottled water with the spout top so we can also drink it if we are stranded.
• Splinter & tick remover forceps
• Non-adherent gauze, for the wounds and burns you don’t want your dressings sticking to.
• 4″ x 4″ dressings. You only get 8 sterile pads in this kit. I buy these in a big pack because they are good for treating multiple injuries and sopping up blood. I don’t worry about whether they’re “sterile” when nothing else is, and truthfully, clean is good enough here. Besides, once the injured get to medical care, wounds will get managed the right way.
• Roller gauze. These are great to secure dressings around arms and legs or in those bendy, hard-to-manage places like armpits and groins.
• Trauma pad  Only 1 pad comes in this kit. I would buy more than 1 
• Latex gloves. Don’t get the black gloves…you can’t see blood on black gloves and won’t know where you stand, bleeding-wise, if you can’t get a good look at the injuries.
• Safety pins
• 3″ wide elastic bandage. ACE brand makes a wide variety but generic wraps are just as good. Make sure you get the velcro closure versus the wraps with the hooks that get lost or just don’t secure well enough. I buy these in bulk to secure wound dressings and splints…no tape, safety pins, or clips needed!
• Cloth tape. However, this self-adhering wrap has all but replaced tape in settings where time is of the essence. Plus, it can also be used to secure wound dressings & help with splinting (especially for animals). It’s not elastic (so it doesn’t have a lot of “give”) but it rips easily into pieces instead of needing scissors, and it sticks to itself instead of the skin. 
• Tincture of Benzoin – this is a skin protectant and helps tape stick better to the skin. I don’t bother with this in any of our first aid or trauma kits (see above).

Fishing First Aid Kit

While I do know first aid kits, I don’t know a lot about fishing, or the best way to remove a fish hook from the finger – click here instead.

Slips and falls are pretty common because of all the water on and in the boat. Rubber-soled shoes are best for navigating slick ramps & decks:

(How cute are these boat-safe Converse?)

Basic First Aid Kit

If you’re going to build your own emergency kit, you can be thorough without going overboard.

At the very least, first aid kits need supplies to care for open wounds, actively bleeding wounds, painful or unstable broken bones, and an emergency blanket to protect against hypothermia.

I like to keep all my emergency supplies where I can easily see and reach for them. The kits I made for my kids are set up the same, which are kept in the backseat of their cars…because devices and kits don’t get used if they’re packed away and forgotten about. 

I also like to organize the supplies by their purpose. For example, bleeding control supplies are kept separate from splinting supplies:

(Images: Personal emergency kit, kept in my vehicle. Click here to find a bag with outside pockets too!)

I keep another blanket, an absorbent towel, sunscreen, and extra wound care supplies in the middle of my bag.

Commercial first aid kits come with a tiny irrigation tool, but I keep 6-packs of bottled water in my vehicle, and they all have a spout top. These are great for flushing out wounds, and getting dirt out of big scrapes or the eyes. They also serve double duty to help prevent dehydration:

(Image: Stocked with essentials)

If you adventure often, and even if you don’t, I highly recommend taking a basic first aid class…even better, a Stop The Bleed class.

Uncontrolled bleeding is the most preventable cause of death from traumatic injuries. But they’re easy to treat if you can see the blood!

Remember, you are the help until help arrives. Know what to do.

Safety Equipment For Boats

Now that we’ve looked at what goes inside your boat emergency kit, make sure you also know the federal requirements before you set sail. 

What Equipment Is Required On A Boat?

All boats are required to have one wearable (Type I, II, III, or V PFD) life jacket for each passenger on board (or being pulled on tubes or skies, etc.).

These life jackets also need to be properly fitted for the person wearing them. Adults are sized according to their chest size, while children are sized according to their weight (Click here to learn more about sizing).

And, unless you’re paddling around in a canoe or kayak, boats at least 16 feet long also need to have one throwable floatation device that can be tossed to someone struggling in the water.

Personal Flotation Device Types

Having life vests (also called personal flotation devices, or PFDs) onboard is non-negotiable… So here is the difference between them:

Type I Life Vests:

(Find Type I Life Vests Here)

• Good for rough waters and open seas
• Best for outings where it might take a while to get rescued
• Designed to turn an unconscious person face-up in the water
• Offers the most buoyancy (or “float”)
• Usually found in commercial boats, ships & ferrys

Type II Life Vests:

(Find Type II Life Vests Here)

• Good for calm inland waters such as lakes, rivers, and bays
• Best for outings when help isn’t far away
• May or may NOT turn an unconscious person face-up

Type III Flotation Aids:

(Find Type III Flotation Aids Here)

• Good for calm, inland waters where you’d expect to get rescued pretty promptly
• Best for water sports – these are the most comfortable for all-day wear
• Not designed for unconscious victims – you need to be able to tilt your own head back to stay face-up out of the water
• Can be made from foam, be inflatable, or be a combo of both

Type V PFD:

• These are special-use devices for specific water sports activities
• Use only for the activity labeled, such as kayaking or windsurfing
• Some offer hypothermia precautions, so you don’t freeze to death waiting for the rescue team

Throwable Flotation Devices:

(Find Throwable Flotation Devices Here)

• Required for boats longer than 16 feet in addition to wearable life vests
• Intended to be thrown, not worn
• Come as horseshoe-shaped buoys, ring buoys, and as buoyant seat cushions
• These cannot be substituted for wearable types on boats smaller than 16 feet anymore (see the updates here).

Visual Distress Signals (VDS)

If you’re boating on the open seas, the Great Lakes, or in water leading up to these waters, a way to signal for HELP at night (or in the dark) is required.

(Screenshot Image from The Federal Requirements for Boaters PDF – See It Here)

• Not required, but definitely recommended, for recreational boats (such as fishing and ski boats) less than 16 feet long.
• Not required on open sailboats less than 26 feet long if they aren’t outfitted with propulsion machinery.
• Not required in manually propelled boats
• Not required if you’re partaking in an organized event such as a race or parade.

(Find Visual Distress Signals Here)

Marine Fire Extinguisher

At least 1 portable Coast Guard-approved hand-held fire extinguisher is required on all recreational boats with a permanently installed gas tank, or the boat has spaces within it capable of trapping toxic fumes:

This screenshot from the U.S. Coast Guard’s boating website (reference it here) illustrate areas on a boat where vapors may become trapped, requiring the presence of an onboard fire extinguisher:

1. Areas under seats and thwarts where fuel tanks might be housed
2. Double bottoms that aren’t sealed to the hull, or aren’t jam-packed with flotation material
3. Closed living space
4. Closed storage space where flammable or explosive gear is stored
5. Permanently installed gas tank

(Find USCG-Approved Marine Fire Extinguishers Here)

Sound Producing Device

An audible means to call for help, such as a horn or whistle, is also required on a boat.

(Download The Federal Requirements for Recreational Boats PDF Here)

Boat Safety

According to the United States Coast Guard, more than 80 percent of boating fatalities could have been prevented by wearing a life jacket!

A day on the water is what summers are made of, but a boatload of things can go wrong. 

Are you prepared?

This post was all about the boat emergency kit essentials you can’t leave home without.