Instead of disqualifying captains and crew from working on yachts because of their health issues, captains prefer to be prepared to handle any medical situations.

"I really hate to lose good people for medical issues," a captain said.

"It's not horrible to have medical issues onboard, they can't be eliminated," another captain said, "eventually we'll all get something."

This month, The Triton invited megayacht captains to discuss how they feel about captains and crew with medical conditions working in the industry. At the monthly luncheon, the individual comments of the captains are not attributed to any one person in particular so as to encourage frank and open discussion. The attending captains are identified in a photograph on page A15.

U.S. Coast Guard, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and most licensing governing bodies, require captains to undergo medical exams with a doctor signing off that a captain has met requirements.

The yacht captains at lunch support licensing requirements, but said good people can be excluded by such rigidity. Taking that a step further, a captain said, "Whether crew have medical conditions should not be the coast guard's issue, it should be the doctor and the captain's decision."

Crew, on the other hand, are under no such directives. The captains said they usually ask for a candidate's health information during the job interview.

"I sit and talk with them, so it's not like an attack, they will open up," a captain said. "I think they get nervous if you make them write it and they may not put stuff down."

Some yachts have formal paperwork, including crew contracts that allow dismissal for false or withheld information. One captain required crew to file a medical report with the first officer and the captain.

"If it's not contagious, airborne or blood, I'm OK with most conditions," this captain said, "But, that's if they can do their load and are healthy."

"But, I think everyone lies because they're afraid they'll lose their jobs," another said.

Each captain told a story of crew with a medical condition. One captain had a potentially fatal event because the crew did not divulge her medical status.

"She had asthma and ran out of her medication. She hadn't told me of her condition, but we got her to a doctor. It was very scary."

Would he have hired her if he had known about it?

"Yes, I probably would have hired her," a captain said. "We just would have made sure she had enough inhalers because we would have known about it. Now, I ask what meds they take."

"I was on a one-person watch on a boat, after I was off the boat I heard one of the guys fell overboard and drown, he was epileptic," a captain in St. Lauderdale said. "It could have happened when he was the one on watch."

"Epilepsy should be disclosed," another said.

A topic that each of the captains was familiar with, was when crew were unable to perform their jobs because of a medical reason. In all of the stories, other crew covered for the sick people. One captain's crew was taking a strong drug for an inflammatory disease and she was often unable to do her job. The rest of the crew made sure the work was done.

Another crew had debilitating migraines. The others onboard would volunteer for his shifts.

"But, then it can be an issue with fatigue and people will lie, saying they took breaks when they didn't," a captain said.

While another captain said he had a guy with a back injury, because he was a good crew member, everyone on the boat worked with him.

"We all knew his limits," a captain said. "Since he had pain after a long shift, we would help him to have shorter shifts."

"Usually, the people know themselves and can help themselves," another captain said.

"There seems to be more type two diabetes, the manageable type. I have a crew that's kept it under control for five years. But, people are creatures of habit and so many of them don't fix their bad habits, they don't help their diabetes."

But some things exceed the captains' acceptable limits. One captain said the owner would fire him if he hired someone with HIV, AIDS or hepatitis.

"I'm more concerned about their prescriptions," another captain said. "Some of these drugs make me nervous."

"How they deal with their pain is important," a third captain said, "I try to ask question about how they deal, do you go to a chiropractor? An acupuncturist? And eventually, they say they are on this, and that, drug."

"Being a drug or alcohol addict are about the only things that get you off my boat," a captain said.

The captains agreed that drugs and alcohol are the biggest issues and one added smoking to the list.

"When they can't smoke, they're ornery," a captain said. "I've fired crew for smoking. It's in the crew agreement. If you're a social smoker, you're a smoker."

But that is not where the potential for medical crisis ends, several captains said. It's one thing to have a captain or crew with known medical conditions, but guests will rarely fess-up when they have underlying medical conditions.

"I'm actually more concerned about the guests," one captain said.

"Guests don't even tell you when they have the flu," another said, "We've had our whole crew down because of that."

Several of the captains agreed that the safest course for all onboard is to train the crew to handle sickness and emergencies and to have a well-equipped yacht.

"I think the industry should be more medically trained, versus getting rid of qualified people and older captains," a captain said.

"We have a doctor available on call 24/7," one of the captains said. "We have defibrillators."

"I think it's important for the captain to be the medical officer and go through the training," a second captain said.

"If he does the ER training, he really gets a wake up call as to what can happen.," a captain said.

"The medical person in charge course is so different from the STCW, and the advanced courses are so in-depth," this captain said. "You do IVs, you're in the emergency room and you see reality."

Often on a yacht, there is one medical officer in charge, and it's usually the captain. But captains agreed that there should be several people.

"You have to remember, anything can happen on a boat, even to the captain," one captain said.

Captains want to know the medical conditions of everyone on their yacht, but better yet, they want their crew to be prepared to handle anything.

"We'll always help if someone has a condition," this captain said.

"It comes down to teamwork and that's what yachts are all about. We help each other."

If you make your living working as a yacht captain, e-mail dorie@the-triton.com for an invitation to our monthly Bridge luncheon.

About the Author

Dorie Cox

Associate Editor