Dry January!

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!


Wow! When we saw this list we were pretty amazed. I mean, how many of us reach for a glass of wine to help us unwind and sleep better after a stressful day? Who knew it does the exact opposite and totally messes up our sleep patterns?


It’s also important to remember that routine and habit are often drivers of our drinking habits. Who loves a glass of wine when they’re cooking, or a G&T while enjoying a bubble bath? Who doesn’t love a cold beer after work on a hot summer evening? Who couldn’t consider going out for a meal without sharing a bottle of wine. Who believes the idea of a celebration without a glass of fizz is unthinkable?


It’s easily done. The National Institutes of Health research also showed that over 25% of people reported drinking more during lockdown. The research indicated that drinking more during lockdown was independently associated with being younger, having post 16yo education qualifications, household income over £30,000, being significantly stressed about catching or becoming seriously ill from COVID-19, being significantly stressed about finances or having a diagnosed anxiety disorder. 


It’s interesting stuff, but we should also note that many of these factors are not isolated to lockdown times and can happen at any time.

Are you convinced yet?


If not, here’s a few additional facts and figures to help you to decide if Dry January, or Dry Any Other Time of the Year, might appeal to you…


  • 14% of adults in the UK never drink any alcohol.
  • When you drink, you lose 4 times as much liquid as you drink - this leads to a dehydrated state that can be hard to resolve.
  • Six glasses of wine equates to around 960 calories - that’s almost half your daily intake.
  • If you’re a beer drinker, it’s even more! 6 pints equates to 1,080 calories.
  • Alcohol slows your metabolism - which makes it harder for you to lose weight.
  • Drinking alcohol hinders the part of your brain that deals with memory, so giving up helps to improve memory, as well as mood and concentration levels.
  • Mood and concentration levels improve, which could reduce the desire to drink in the first place.
  •  Longer term, stopping or reducing your alcohol intake can help improve.


So, cutting back on overall alcohol intake, or giving up for a period of time reduces your risk of over 60 health conditions. Alcohol is the biggest risk factor for death, ill health and disability for those aged 15-49 in the UK - so taking a little booze holiday may be well worth the effort!


We’d love to hear your experiences of Dry January too, so please let us know why you decided to try, how you feel and most of all, what creative concoctions you came up with to fill your glasses instead of alcohol! 


We love this blog and would love it if you shared it far and wide.....

by Rachel Smith 26 February 2025
At the time of writing, the Caribbean superyacht season is in full swing and the Mediterranean season is looming just around the corner in a few months time. It can be a stressful time for any crew, from the most senior to the most junior - and we could all do with a little help to manage stress and our response to it. We’ve written a number of blogs about mental health and things you can do to help manage your own stress and mental health, and when to seek help. We’ve listed them at the end of this blog. But did you know that we can also offer a one day, onboard training session, for the whole crew? Stress Happens! is run in conjunction with the super experienced team at Impact Crew, so you benefit from a business, leadership and team perspective, together with the medical and wellness input. Stress Happens! was developed in response to feedback from superyacht crews and has been running for 4 years. It can be delivered in one day and is suitable for crew at any level. It’s also delivered onboard, making it easy to facilitate the whole crew to attend. The aim is to focus on mental wellbeing and stress, providing tools and techniques to help you to manage your own stress, helping others to manage their stress and knowing where to turn for help if it’s needed.
by Rachel Smith 12 February 2025
In this month's blog, as aching hearts aren’t just related to Valentines Day, we’re taking a look at chest pain! Chest pain is a common reason for calls for an ambulance or to shoreside, and frequently it’s not actually due to cardiac (heart) issues. But you will often hear Paramedics tell their patients that they have done the right thing; they would genuinely prefer to get to a patient and find the chest pain is a minor issue, than it being cardiac, and too late! Last year, we wrote this blog about 20 causes of chest pain (plus a bonus one!). Some of the conditions described are acute (sudden onset), some are chronic (long term), some need urgent attention, others not so much. But we should always take chest pain seriously and make sure a full assessment is done at the earliest opportunity to rule out anything life threatening. Typical symptoms of cardiac chest pain and/or a heart attack are:
by Rachel Smith 29 January 2025
Get ready for something super exciting! After a full year of intense planning and meticulous preparation, we're thrilled to announce the launch of our all-encompassing medical support service — FleetMed Support! Customised Maritime Medical Solutions Whether you have a fleet of ships or a single vessel, managing medical operations can be daunting without dedicated support. This makes FleetMed Support a perfect solution for the cruise, expedition and superyacht sectors. Our approach is simple: We take the burden of medical management off your shoulders, allowing you to focus on the bigger picture. With 24/7 support, we create a customized service level agreement for your fleet, ensuring that every detail is taken care of. So what’s new and why haven’t we done this before? Well, we're not a company that rushes into things. Instead, we take the time to thoroughly research and understand what's needed, ensuring we can deliver to the very high standards we set for ourselves and maintain those standards at all costs. Let's be honest, it's the continuous pursuit of excellence, the commitment to always improve, and the understanding that there's always more to learn that drives us forward each day. This means we are now ready to launch what we believe is a truly great portfolio of customisable services. So, how could this look for your company? Working with us is straightforward and hassle-free. We start by listening carefully to your specific requirements so that we can thoroughly understand your needs, and discuss your current gaps. Once we have a clear picture, we craft a tailored plan to deliver the precise services you require. Our process is marked by clear and concise communication at every step. We believe in total transparency, ensuring that you are kept in the loop throughout the entire process. We pride ourselves on our efficiency and dedication. Once the plan is in place, our experienced team gets to work, executing the agreed-upon services with precision and care. Our goal is to deliver exceptional results without any drama, making your experience as smooth and stress-free as possible.
by Rachel Smith 15 January 2025
From Flu jabs to far flung destinations… Vaccinations are a hotly debated topic across the globe, particularly after COVID-19 and the rapid response to the need for a vaccination to help reduce the burden on the health services in different countries. While the majority of healthcare workers and the general population support the ‘prevention is better than cure’ line of thinking, and therefore vaccinations, there are others who are determinedly against vaccinations for any disease, whatever the risk of mortality and death may be. In the UK, the BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guerin) vaccination used to be given to all children in their teenage years to protect against tuberculosis. The vaccine has been so successful that TB is virtually eradicated now, and the majority of cases are due to migration. Now it’s only given to those deemed at high risk - babies and children at high risk, those travelling to high risk regions and adults coming into the UK from high risk countries. Depending on your country of origin, you should receive a range of vaccinations as a child or young adult. This will most likely include diphtheria, tetanus, polio and whooping cough, hepatitis and HIB (Influenza type B). Then MMR (measles, mumps and rubella), the pneumococcal vaccine (meningitis, pneumonia and sepsis) and HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) with a variety of boosters along the way. At the other end of the scale, the over 65s can receive vaccines for shingles, pneumococcal vaccine and respiratory syncytial virus along with flu and covid vaccines.
by Rachel Smith 30 December 2024
Reflection is an essential part of medicine and our regular followers will know that every year, we like to take a look back and assess where we started and how far we’ve come over the last 12 months. So, please join us on our whirlwind recap of 2024 as we get ready for a fabulous 2025… In 2024 we increased the number of STCW training clients to 4 organisations in 6 locations. We delivered STCW training at all levels to over 250 students. We delivered bespoke training to over 75 students onboard Superyachts and cruise ships. We delivered first aid at work or oxygen training to over 40 students, on land and on ships.
by Rachel Smith 18 December 2024
Welcome to our December blog, which is all about the recovery position and how to manage an unconscious casualty who is breathing normally. Unconsciousness is a medical emergency as the person is very vulnerable and may not be able to manage their own airway effectively. We also need to think about the cause of unconsciousness. Is it a simple fainting episode due to illness? Is it a massive hemorrhage causing hypovolemic shock? Or is it due to some kind of external factor or injury? This blog looks at how to manage an unconscious casualty. So, if we have a casualty who is unconscious, but who is breathing normally for themselves, and we’re not suspecting a serious injury, the recovery position is the best position to use while monitoring them. The recovery position keeps their airway open and makes sure that vomit or liquid won’t cause them to choke.
by Rachel Smith 11 December 2024
All the guest blogs! When we started adding blogs to our website back in early 2021, we did a little feature on each of our instructors of the time. They’re quite a fascinating bunch and the series proved quite popular amongst our followers. In addition to our amazing instructors, we work with some utterly incredible human beings all over the world, and the idea of sharing their stories grew and developed into what eventually became a monthly guest blog. It’s been interesting to find out more about how medical care at sea or in remote locations features in their work, and to discover a few fun facts along the way. This month, we thought that it might be a fun idea to give you a chance to go back into the archives and review all the guest blogs over the last few years! Maybe even let us know which your favourite one is?
by Rachel Smith 27 November 2024
We’ve taken a look at the 2023 Casualty Summary Report from the Maritime Authority of the Cayman Islands (MACI) to see what kind of incidents and trends their data shows us, even with relatively small data sets, and how this may be able to transfer to our own risk assessments and actual practice. You can find the report here: Cayman Maritime Report 2023 The first thing we noted was the authors note that the data is split out into incidents. This means that one incident may include a number of events. So a collision and any resulting injury is one incident, but is reported as two events, or more, if more than one person is injured. It made us wonder whether this method of reporting by an authority represents how incidents are reported onboard and whether it should be a consideration? Of course, for any set of statistics presented at the moment, we also have to consider the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact this has on trends including that period. While essential shipping continued, the cruise and superyacht sectors reduced activity and staffing, often to a skeleton crew while anchored somewhere. So this will be reflected in the historic data sets that we analyse from 2019 to 2021 and may not accurately reflect increases and decreases during and since then. In some situations, we may need to look further back for accurate data. We also need to consider whether increases in incidents and events is also down to increased reporting - suggesting an improvement in the awareness of reporting requirements and greater engagement from the industry and individual sectors - this can only be a good development. Since 2020, the type of injury has been recorded in 8 different categories, with hand and foot injuries topping the leaderboard, closely followed by head, body, and back injuries. So if you were looking to run drills, or practise medical skills, these would be the key areas to cover. Only one death was an occupational accident, and is being investigated here: MAIB Investigations (search for case #9229607). It relates to a fall down a ventilation shaft on a bulk carrier in a Greek shipyard. The full report was still pending at the time of writing. Merchant ships are heavily regulated by a number of authorities, and the requirements for personal protective equipment and safe systems of work are enforced and applied to reduce accidents and incidents onboard. This has led to a lower reporting of incidents than in the commercial yacht sector. Could there be room for improvement here in this area? We certainly think so. Many of the hand and foot injuries reported can be career ending or life changing, but are preventable. Follow up has shown that there is a link here with injuries being sustained when inappropriate or no PPE was used. The supply and use of appropriate PPE is mandatory on vessels subject to the MLC and it’s worth remembering that some PPE can be produced in styles and designs compatible with the aesthetics of a yacht if required! On a much wider scale, a lack of transparency and standardisation globally can affect the collection of data and the issue of under reporting. While the MACI figures may be accurate, we need other accurate figures to compare them to, in order to build a bigger picture across the world as we have in aviation. From December 2024, the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) will be enforcing an amendment so that seafarer deaths will be recorded and reported annually. The MACI and Cayman Islands Shipping Registry produces a number of safety flyers that are publicly available HERE that may be useful. In summary, analysing data can sometimes result in more questions than answers. But even this can lead to interesting and important developments that result in improved safety and reduced incidents and accidents onboard. Key points to take from this report are: Use the correct PPE for the task. Employ approved systems of work and risk assessments for the task. Reporting is key for safety in the future of our industry. Enjoy a night ashore, but don’t over do the cocktails! As always, if you’d like any input on medical training onboard or ashore, or drills that you can run yourselves, please just get in touch. References: https://www.lloydslist.com/LL1145359/Increase-in-incidents-of-deaths-at-sea
by Rachel Smith 6 November 2024
Welcome to our latest guest blog where we’ve been chatting to James Griffiths, General Manager of Ocean Operations for Scenic Group and finding out more about what happens behind the scenes in order to keep a fleet of luxury expedition ships running. Here’s what James told us… As General Manager of Ocean Operations, I’m responsible for the operations of our fleet which includes four ships in service with around 850 colleagues. I currently live in Mumbles, near Swansea in the UK, but due to the nature of my work I spend a significant amount of time living in Croatia. Prior to this role, I spent many years working at sea and worked up through the ranks to Captain and over the last 15 years, my main focus has been on polar expedition travel. I hold a master mariner certificate of competency in addition to a degree in engineering and a post graduate diploma in law. Part of my job is to work with our medical service provider (Red Square Medical) to ensure that our ships are offering medical services that are appropriate for their deployment, and this can often be to some of the most extreme and remote locations around the world. It’s extremely varied, though during the COVID-19 pandemic, I came ashore when our operations paused for a significant period of time. I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to lead the restart of our Ocean Operations, which included setting up everything from a company to manage the ships, to selecting our crewing, medical, helicopter and submarine partners and providers, amongst many other things. Our areas of operation, and the nature of our cruises (expedition), plus having aircraft and submersibles onboard some, do mean additional elements involved in the management of these ships. You could say that this current position is more of a happy coincidence than one that I actually planned for! In some ways this is a great positive - I do think it’s possible to plan a little too much and then be disappointed if things don’t go quite the way you had imagined. But there’s no danger of that here!
by Rachel Smith 3 October 2024
Back in February 2022, we brought you one of our very first guest blogs from Simon Lawton, a Paramedic who has swapped out his ambulance for a Superyacht! You can read the original blog here: https://www.redsquaremedical.com/superyacht-paramedic-a-guest-blog-from-simon-lawton Over the last 2+ years, we’ve followed Simon’s career, and some of you may even recognise him as he does put a Red Square Medical instructor hat on from time to time. But, as for all healthcare professionals, Simon has to keep his skills up to date. So, we asked him to tell us a bit more about how he juggles this along with a rota onboard. Here’s what he told us… I’m originally from Stoke-on-Trent in the UK and trained as a HCPC registered Paramedic. I’ve spent almost 5 years working at sea now, with almost continuous employment on three different vessels, after leaving the ambulance service in 2019. My first role was as a Paramedic/Deck hand on Superyachts, and I now work as a Medical Officer on a maritime vessel. Even before I applied to become a Paramedic, I intended to complete my studies to help find employment in a remote or offshore environment. I had always been attracted to the idea of being able to travel the world while earning a salary. Working at sea has meant that I have travelled extensively, earnt a higher salary, and have a better work/rest balance than would be possible in a role on land. Note: At the time of writing, a qualified Paramedic’s starting pay in the UK was £28,407 and Simon’s old rota was 2 days, 2 nights (all 12 hours) and 4 days off with very inflexible annual leave. This year I decided to carry out some continual professional development (CPD) at a hospital in Mexico, to keep my skills up to date. I was interested in travelling to find out more about how healthcare services are provided outside the UK and Europe. The CPD activity in Mexico allowed me to do exactly that, while caring for and treating a wide variety of patients who had either self-presented in the emergency department, or been conveyed to hospital by ambulance.
More posts
Share by: