PRESENTATION
The sea workers, marines and fishermen, work in a harsh environment, the sea, and in a mobile place of limited space, the boat, which is also, for most of them, their home during the periods they are on board, often far away from national territory.
This particular social-labour environment of the sea workers requires specific and integral attention by public entities, which is why the Marine Social Institute was created, as a management entity of the Special Social Security Regime of the Sea Workers, with the goal of improving the social and labour protection of these workers and their families.
Additionally, the health concept in the sea environment requires specific health programmes to be put in place for these workers when they are on board and abroad, as well as the design of a practical integral health care model based on preventive and medical care mechanisms.
For this reason, and from a preventive point of view, it is essential to be able to count on adequately trained health personnel on board ships, as well as with minimum health facilities to provide medical care, and a first aid kit appropriate to the boat's characteristics and periodically checked to guarantee that its contents are correct.
The On Board Health Guide is a required part of this first aid kit, which is edited and freely distributed by the Marine Social Institute, configured as a "vademecum" of basic knowledge that the person responsible for health on the ship should have and as a practical catalogue of procedures to follow, always under indication of the Medical Radio Centre's doctors.
The Medical Radio Centre is precisely the main part of the health care model the Marine Social Institute puts forth for the sea workers. Its job complements the actions of the Health Care Coordinating Centre, the Health Care Centres Abroad, and the medical and logistic attention ships in the high seas such as the Hospital ship "Esperanza del Mar", in a permanent way, or other health ships put to sail for specific campaigns, in a temporary way.
Since all ships are required to carry the On Board Health Guide, the Marine Social Institute has made an effort to edit successive versions of it, revising and improving each one, in such a way that, in its contents, it is currently a very complete document, absolutely practical, visual and quick and easy to handle, which make it essential as an immediate support tool for health personnel on board to be able to attend to incidents which may arise on board, either due to accidents or illness.
For these reasons, which we think are valuable, the Social Marine Institute has considered it convenient to present the On Board Health Guide not only in this new Internet format of enormous diffusion and easy access, but also in an English version.
However, we want to point out that this On Board Health Guide should never substitute for specialised medical attention, but should be considered as a complement and support tool to this medical care.
By publishing this On Board Health Guide on the internet, and in a Spanish and English version, the Social Marine Institute hopes to accomplish a double objective:
Firstly, as indicated, we hope to aid in the access of this document to all the workers in the maritime-fishing sector, no matter what their nationality is, and not only for those who are Spanish-speakers.
Secondly, we wish to share with any person, not necessarily related to this specific labour Group linked to maritime activity, the knowledge and experience put forth in this On board Health Guide, an important support document to medical care in which all those who have participated in its creation and elaboration have put all their interest, and which we consider can provide a valuable and crucial aid to someone who may, at some point, need it