Associate Editor Aileen Mack joined Dockwalk in July 2018. She is a graduate of the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. If she’s not at a concert or coffee shop, she is lost in a book, movie or a YouTube rabbit hole. Email Aileen at aileen@dockwalk.com.
Like with many industries around the world, shoreside medical care is also seeing a strain on resources through increased wait times and staff shortages. MedAire has launched an add-on to their membership that provides yachts with medical rooms, complex medical equipment, and onboard medical professionals with a greater level of support.
Enhanced Health Partner will allow yachts to have direct access to a dedicated team of experts in remote medicine in the maritime environment, helping the vessels achieve best practice medical management. It also aims to alleviate the administrative work for the onboard medical professional or yachts with non-standard equipment or a medical room on board.
“Technology continues to make medical equipment and diagnostics tools more suitable for maritime environments,” MedAire General Manager Steven Bates said in a press release. “As medical capabilities on board become more complex, more clinical oversight is required — perhaps you want to be able to conduct X-rays on board — who will read and interpret the results, who will calibrate the equipment, and what happens when a new nurse comes on board and needs training on this equipment? It is these types of clients that will really benefit from the Enhanced Health Partner service.”
The new program’s key elements are helping with equipment maintenance/calibration, provide peer-to-peer support with direct access to MedAire’s dedicated team, and voyage planning support. Members can also receive assistance with tailoring a training plan for crew, questions on patient confidentiality, and developing evacuation plans.
“Maintaining a medical setup can be an incredibly difficult task for (often) one onboard medical professional, working alone or in a degree of isolation,” MedAire Medical Director Dr. Phil Bryson said in the announcement. “This new service really helps to provide that extra layer of support that these crew members would otherwise have in a clinical setting, whether that’s having the ability to escalate concerns to a medical director, assistance in scheduling equipment calibration, or helping to put together bespoke training plans.”
MedAire has shared that several members are already using the service and notes that Enhanced Health Partner does not replace its 24/7 MedLink assistance and case management service. medaire.com/yachts