Textbook of Maritime Medicine

5.7.1        STCW Convention 

The STCW Convention from 1978 is a very important convention from the maritime health professional’s point of view.

It is the convention regulating the pre-sea medical and periodic examinations of seafarers, although being very general in its approach. It also set up the standards for emergency medical training requirements for different groups of personnel on board. We will deal a little more in detail with this.

The STCW Convention actually include also the STCW Code, where one will find most of the practicalities derived from the convention itself strictly speaking.

5.7.2             Medical training for personnel on board

Training in medical emergency procedures and medical care is another very important issue for the STCW-convention.

The training requirements differ according to position on board. The requirements are set in tables in the STCW Code Section A.

 Table 5.7.1:  Basic requirements for first aid training according to the STCW Code A

On the lowest level is that of “personal survival techniques” (Table A-VI/1-1). This is obligatory for where anyone signing on to a ship, as is the next step “elementary first aid”  (Table A-VI/1-3). Together with the fire prevention and fire fighting course set out in table A-VI/1-2 and the personal safety and social responsibilities course set out in A-VI/1-3 these courses form the basic safety training for everyone on board.

The next level is that of “medical first aid”, which is obligatory for persons with a safety function in certain positions on board, usually working in the master and deck and engine departments.

The highest level is “medical care”. This course aims at training dedicated personnel how to carry out medical care on board, and is obligatory for nautical personnel. While the responsibility for medical care always lies with the ship’s master, it is usually given to the 1^st officer to handle all practical cases.

IMO has developed a series of model courses to be used for guidance purposes for maritime safety training centres which want to develop their own courses. The IMO model courses are a description of the minimum requirements according to the STCW Convention. However, the courses need revision, as the last revisions were in 2000.

5.7.3           IMO Model courses

 Tbele 5.7.2: IMO model courses

 he IMO model coIMO model courses, corresponding to the STCW requirements set out in the Code are shown in Table 5.7.2.

There are aspects of maritime health topics in most of the courses, although the pure medical courses are the 1.13, 1.14 and 1.15.