You might wonder about the title of this month’s guest blog, as Worse Things Happen at Sea is also the name of our monthly newsletter. But this month, we’re delighted to introduce Andrew Edwards as our Guest Blogger, and we felt his amazing story about life at sea really deserved a dramatic headline… Dysentery... In the summer of 1966, I was a cadet on a cargo ship that loaded in the UK for 9 ports in West, South and East Africa. Our first port of call was Luanda, the capital of Angola – which was then a colony of Portugal. Next, 300 miles down the coast we called in to Lobito – also in Angola. In Lobito two of the ship's company contracted dysentery; myself and a big Irishman called Reg. The shoreside Doctor we saw simply diagnosed the condition (amoebic dysentery) and said, ‘sorry but I have no antibiotics for this!’. Thankfully the ship’s purser stood our corner and demanded that the Doctor find some. The following day the antibiotics were flown in from the Belgian Congo. The Doctor gave us no advice as to how to deal with the condition, not a word about how contagious it was, not a word as to the importance of thoroughly washing our hands and maintaining scrupulous personal hygiene. Thankfully both Reg and I were quartered just a short sprint from the heads, and we were left to get on with it by our shipmates. It took about a week to get over the dysentery, by which time I had lost several stone in weight and was as weak as a kitten. By the time we arrived in Walvis Bay, South West Africa (now known as Namibia), a further 1000 miles south, I was just about fit enough to play football for the ship against a local team. Their football ground had a main road going right through the middle of it which made for some challenging moments, but they still beat us comfortably and they were playing in bare feet!

As it’s Easter, we thought that it would be a very appropriate time, what with all that chocolate around, to take a closer look at the subject of Diabetes and why it’s such a huge problem in the UK and across the world. The Easter Bunny always looks so cute and cuddly, but is he a diabetes case waiting to happen? Or does his diet of grass and all that hopping around for the rest of the year make an important difference? According to the WHO, diabetes is a chronic, metabolic disease which is characterised by elevated levels of blood glucose (or blood sugar). Over time, this leads to serious damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys and nerves. The most common is type 2 diabetes, and it usually develops with a late onset in adults. It occurs when the body becomes resistant to insulin or doesn't make enough insulin. Worryingly, in the past 3 decades the prevalence of type 2 diabetes has risen dramatically in countries of all income levels and is closely linked to obesity, poor diet, and an unhealthy lifestyle. Symptoms for type 2 diabetes are generally similar to those of type 1 diabetes (need to urinate often, thirst, constant hunger, weight loss, vision changes and fatigue), but are often less marked. As a result, the disease may be diagnosed several years after onset, after complications have already arisen. For this reason, it is important to be aware of risk factors. Effective approaches are available to prevent type 2 diabetes and to prevent the complications and premature death that can result from all types of diabetes. These include policies and practices across whole populations and within specific settings (school, home, workplace) that contribute to good health for everyone, regardless of whether they have diabetes, such as exercising regularly, eating healthily, avoiding smoking, and controlling blood pressure and lipids. Type 1 diabetes, once known as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes, is a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin by itself. Normal onset is in younger people, but can also be in adults. Symptoms of type 1 diabetes include the need to urinate often, thirst, constant hunger, weight loss, vision changes and fatigue. These symptoms may occur suddenly. Type 1 diabetes cannot currently be prevented. It’s thought to be caused by an autoimmune reaction which destroys the cells in the pancreas that make insulin. It can also be caused by genetics, viruses, trauma, tumours, removal of the pancreas or other damage to the pancreas. About 422 million people worldwide have diabetes, the majority living in low-and middle-income countries, and 1.5 million deaths are directly attributed to diabetes each year. But the number of cases and the prevalence of diabetes have been steadily increasing over the past few decades. The starting point for living well with type one or type 2 diabetes is an early diagnosis – the longer a person lives with undiagnosed and untreated diabetes, the worse their health outcomes are likely to be. Easy access to basic diagnostics, such as blood glucose testing, should therefore be available in primary health care settings. Patients will need periodic specialist assessment or treatment for complications. A series of cost-effective interventions can improve patient outcomes, regardless of what type of diabetes they may have. These interventions include blood glucose control through a combination of diet, physical activity and, if necessary, medication; control of blood pressure and lipids to reduce cardiovascular risk and other complications; and regular screening for damage to the eyes, kidneys and feet to facilitate early treatment.

Well, we’ve made it to February! How are your goals for the year going so far? As you’ll know, we do love a bit of goal setting at Red Square Medical HQ. But, we also understand the importance of Reflective Practice too. Especially in relation to setting goals. Want to know more? Please read on…

Today we start the first in a series of blogs in conjunction with our friends at the Maritime Skills Academy, and kicking it all off is a Guest Blog from MSAs Head of Training, Sam Kelly. Sam is 37 and lives in southeast Kent, in the quaint seaside town of Deal with with his wife, two children and a ‘Golden Doodle’ called Pringle. He has lived in the area ever since his father, a serving Royal Marine at the Deal Depot, and mother decided this was the place to raise their family. And it is, quite frankly, an excellent place to live. Here is his story… I’m the Head of Training for the Maritime Skills Academy, based in our head office in Dover. I oversee a team of Maritime Safety Instructors who deliver all STCW training for seafarers. Outside the Dover base, we have MSA Gibraltar. This location is operated in partnership with the University of Gibraltar and delivers Basic Safety Training and most recently Operational Firefighting, We are actually in the process of building a state-of-the-art Fire Training Module on ‘the Rock’.

So Christmas seems like years ago, and we’re all well into the New Year now. Did you make any resolutions? Some love to, some don’t. At Red Square Medical HQ, we love a goal or two and think the turn of the years can be a good prompt to make some positive changes. But, it’s well known that New Year resolutions don’t last. Forbes magazine tells us that 21% don’t make their resolution stick for even a month. While 34% state that it lasted for between one and three months. Is that a failure though? Or could it be all it takes to make some small changes that have a lasting impact? We thought it would be good to take a closer look at one of the most popular resolutions… Dry January! Now, let’s get one thing straight, the Red Square Medical team are not averse to a tipple or two! But as medics, we’re very aware of the short and long term benefits of giving our livers a little breather every so often. Of course, everyone responds differently to stopping drinking for a month, so the timeline below is just a guide. But it might help you to decide whether it’s a good idea to give the booze a break for a while, or work towards reducing your intake - we know it’s easy for it to creep up over time!

What I miss most about the Ambulance Service… It’s been 12 months since I left the Ambulance service after 8 years of working frontline, and to be honest it’s flown by. A few weeks ago the team at Red Square Medical HQ were chatting about how life has changed in that time and what, if anything, I was missing from my former life! The list might just surprise you… Most of all, I miss my old colleagues and I definitely miss the patient contact. And driving on blue lights… that was one of the best parts of the job! Working in the ambulance service with regular partners who you get on well with really does create friendships for life. Or even doing a tricky job with someone you don’t know well provides a common bond forever. Every day you’re facing stressful situations and sometimes split second, life changing decisions. You rely on each other totally and make sure you keep each other safe in some difficult and challenging situations. I worked with 3 very different partners most of the time for my last few years and I miss them all. Happily though, I have some great new colleagues at Red Square Medical and Outreach Rescue, the other company that I work for.

I was born in a tiny village in Northamptonshire but had a fairly nomadic childhood, eventually settling in the industrial town of St Helens in the north west. As a child I was horse mad, so boats never got a look in. Apparently ‘horse’ was the first word I said and despite the fact that we could never afford a horse, my dream was always to ride and work with horses. It’s perhaps an early indication of my goal-oriented side that I got a Saturday job as soon as I could. At the age of 13, I’d cycle a 12 mile round trip, twice a day, just to go and ‘muck out’ at a local farm where they bred Welsh ponies and Arab horses! There wasn’t even any riding. Later, I found myself working for the family of a young girl who would go on to represent Great Britain in dressage at the Olympics. The work was physically hard and the standards high. No corners were cut and I learnt the skills I needed the old fashioned way. I got to travel all over the UK in the branded horsebox which was pretty exciting for a teenager. But I think I will always be grateful for the solid work ethic and sense of responsibility that this job instilled in me. I always planned to leave school at 16 and go to ride racehorses. But I got quite reasonable exam results and a new degree course was announced in Equine Science and Business which changed the plan. So, after taking the required year out, when I worked in an eventing yard in Yorkshire, I started the 3 year course. For the two work placements, I opted to go abroad, to Italy and the USA, which supercharged my desire to travel. I continued working in the equestrian world for a couple more years, but the poor pay and prospects, plus a dose of pneumonia pushed me onto a different path. I got a job in telemarketing for a bank, and after putting forward the idea of finance for horses, I found myself transferred to Marketing for 6 months. 16 years later, I was still there!

Christmas is coming and the season of parties is upon us. Of course this means that most of us will overindulge in large amounts of luscious food and, of course, a tipple or two. At Red Square Medical HQ, we have a method of categorising drunk people. During our combined careers, we’ve dealt with more drunks than we can remember; it’s easily running into several hundred. What we’ve learnt, amongst other things, is that most people who are drunk fall into one of these categories. Now please don’t judge as it is purely observation and also makes for an interesting chat when delivering the STCW Medical training, because we all know at least one person from each category and sometimes… a person can be in multiple categories depending on many other factors, or, we might even have been there ourselves! Once we have established these categories there is a serious note to this blog so please do keep reading.

We’re finishing the year off with what we think is one of our very best guest blogs. You may have seen this month's guest before - in the world of social media, or at one of the Superyacht shows. But one thing is for sure, you will have been inspired by her down to earth attitude and love of her work and the crew around her. A true team player, welcome to the Red Square Medical guest blog, Captain Kelly Gordon! Hi everyone, I’m Captain Kelly Gordon and it might surprise you to hear that I grew up inland in the state of Indiana, where the only coastline is a tiny little bit of Lake Michigan! I didn’t really set out to become a Superyacht Captain, and prior to taking this path, I was actually a Chemistry Professor and it was completely by accident that I was introduced to the industry! But the literal minute that I stepped onto a yacht, I just knew! I double dipped for a while, with yachting and teaching, as the boat that I was working on wes in the same town that I taught from. As time went on, I got more and more obsessed with yachting and realised that I wasn’t getting the intrinsic reward that I needed from teaching anymore. I am very, very adamant that if you are educating the future leaders of our communities and world, you darn well need to be passionate about it! So, when I started to lose that passion, I knew it was time to leave the task to someone else. Yachting ticks all the boxes for me, both personally and professionally. What’s funny though, is that I quickly missed teaching and found myself teaching onboard all the time. Then came ‘The Captain’s Classroom’!