Beacon Watch

boats, safety, sports

SeaMe

On the Beacon Watch website, we describe our SeaMe™ personal locator beacon as “the smallest life preserver that could save your life.” But what exactly is a personal locator beacon, and how can it help keep you and your family safe?  Read on to find out!

On The Water

In emergency situations, time is almost always of the essence–and this is especially true in water-related emergencies.  When someone is injured in the water, for example, there is nothing more important than getting them back onto the boat quickly in order to treat their wound and to prevent the risk of drowning.  Cold or turbulent water can also be extremely risky, even if the victim isn’t necessarily injured.  A personal locator beacon can be crucial in these kinds of situations.  At the press of a button, a distress signal is released.  Connected smartphones will receive notification, along with the victim’s exact location. The SeaMe™ beacon even includes a flashing LED light, which can make search and rescue much easier.

On The Slopes

The SeaMe™ personal locator beacon isn’t just for the water, however. Personal locator beacons can be lifesaving in a number of professional and sporting situations–and one activity that lends itself especially to the use of a locator beacon is skiing.  Due to a number of risks such as crashing, avalanches, and tree wells, (along with the added danger of extremely cold weather) skiers can also end up in situations that require rapid rescue. Once again, a personal locator beacon can be the difference between life and death in such moments.

What Makes the SeaMe™ Special?

There are a number of personal locator beacons on the market, however we believe that the SeaMe™ beacon is especially useful due to its smartphone compatibility, LED light, and patented technology that allows the beacon to be always ready at a moment’s notice with no power switch.  Visit the Beacon Watch website for more information on this potentially lifesaving technology.

Most people when they board a boat are excited to enjoy a new adventure, for some it may be the first time they board a boat or ferry.  Most of us are aware of the obvious dangers like falling overboard, hypothermia, and loss of situational awareness, but if you have never gotten sea sick would you think of it as something to worry about before boarding a boat or even taking a long car ride?  Sea sickness can be a debilitating disease that at a minimum can severely impair one’s ability to think clearly, and at worst cause a crippling loss of body fluids from vomiting.

It is unknown why some folks are easily prone to sea sickness, and others have never experienced it in their life. This is true even for long time blue water sailors.  But when you begin to feel the effects of it you will immediately know that something is not right, moderate seasickness may cause feelings of lethargy, nausea and sometimes chills. Severe seasickness begins with the urge to vomit, this may progress to uncontrolled sustained periods of vomiting.

When sea sickness gets this severe it can eventually lead to life threatening consequences from loss of body fluids, if you are outside, wet, and cold, hypothermia may set in and the dangers are increased.

Sea sickness has affected boaters and sailors since they first set out to sea a thousand years ago, and treatments for sea sickness have a long history. One of the oldest treatments is the use of ginger as a candy, gum, ginger slices, or pickled ginger.  Ginger has for generations been a popular candy in China, it is known to settle an upset stomach, its first use for sea sickness may date to the early Chinese sailors. Other suggested treatments include an acupuncture bracelet which presses on a nerve in the wrist, or a more modern version is an electric stimulation watch which uses an electric current to do the same thing. Medications have also been tried, although some cause drowsiness, these include Benadryl, Dramamine, and Bonine. Some medications do not cause drowsiness such as Cinnarizine.

Preparation Is The Key To Being Safe

As with most preparations for ensuring safety at sea it is best to prepare before you set out, avoiding or dealing with sea sickness is no different.  Treatments for sea sickness have to be taken before you begin to feel the effects of sea sickness, if you wait until you get sea sick it will be too late to deal with it. If you think you may get sea sick be prepared and use a treatment before you set out. If you are concerned about taking a medication try ginger, it is natural, safe, and effective for many people. Just make sure you use a reliable source of ginger that is available for treating sea sickness.

An excellent article on sea sickness is available at http://www.newportbeachsail.com/Seasick%20Awareness.pdf, you can download a copy and keep it in your medical kit on board.

This article is meant to help keep you informed about safety at sea, but as always consult your doctor before taking any medications especially if you may have conditions that may particularly warrant it.

[Read more…] about Sea Sickness Can Be The Invisible Killer

In this article from Newsday a fisherman fell off his fishing boat and wasn’t noticed by the captain. He treaded water for 12 hours before he was discovered. Our SeaMe rescue tag technology would have easily prevented this outcome!

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/li-fisherman-john-aldridge-rescued-at-sea-1.5763026