What CPR is
CPR stands for cardiopulmonary resuscitation. It is the first-aid procedure used when someone goes into cardiac arrest: the heart stops pumping and breathing stops with it.
It combines compressions on the chest with rescue breaths. The compressions manually take over the work of the heart and keep blood moving; the breaths supply the oxygen that blood needs to carry.
Its purpose is not to cure but to buy time. It keeps the vital organs — the brain above all — supplied during the minutes that pass before medical help arrives or a defibrillator becomes available.
Why it matters on board a boat
At sea, distance changes everything. An ambulance cannot reach a vessel, and response time depends on the passage back to port or on the arrival of maritime rescue services.
That turns crew training into far more than a box to tick. The people on board are the ones who can act in those first few minutes, and those are precisely the minutes that count most in this kind of emergency.
It is knowledge you hope never to use. It is part of the groundwork behind any trip, in the same way as checking the safety gear before casting off.
How we have it covered
Our crew has received training in CPR and in the use of an AED, on top of first-aid courses. We carry cardiac protection equipment on board and a type C first aid kit.
We do not bring it up as a selling point. We bring it up because anyone stepping aboard has a right to know how prepared the people sailing them are.
During the trip, following the crew’s instructions at all times is part of that same chain of safety. The best emergency is still the one that never happens.
