The MCA Category A Medical kit is designed to comply with the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency MSN 1905 regulations regarding ships medical stores for commercial vessels.
These regulations specify kit contents and the amounts of medicines and medical equipment to be provided for increasing numbers of crew. Thus this kit can be compiled for ten, twenty and thirty crew by the addition of additional medical adjunct bags.
The MCA Category A kit is a comprehensive medical kit, and is a requirement for commercial vessels operating further than 150nm offshore, beyond helicopter range or prompt reach of other offshore rescue services.
It is suitable for vessels undertaking trans-ocean voyages, such as across the Atlantic, spending seasons in the Caribbean or going through the Panama Canal and further west. Such voyages take vessels to areas where definitive good quality help could well be many days away. This kit enables treatment of many problems on board the boat, or stabilisation of sick or injured crew until definitive help is at hand.
The kit is divided in to three bags (Grab Bag, Main Bag, Resuscitation Bag), each containing a number of modules housed in clear plastic pouches for easy access and identification of contents.
It is an MCA requirement that to sanction supply of a MCA Category A medical kit, at least one member of the crew has undertaken the MCA Medical Care at Sea course within the previous five years. We would recommend that at least two members of crew should undertake such training, to cover the eventuality that the ‘medic’ is the one requiring medical attention.
The MCA Cat A medical kit is supplied in soft bags or Pelicases. Each version incorporates the same modular arrangement.