Marine First Aid Kits for Inflatable Boats: The Aussie Skipper's 2026 Guide

Out on the water, the nearest ambulance is the one you packed yourself.

Inflatable boats get you into the good stuff — quiet estuaries, sand bars, offshore reefs, anchorages 40 minutes from the boat ramp. That same freedom is exactly why a properly built marine first aid kit isn't a "nice to have". It's the difference between an incident and an emergency.

We get asked about first aid kits constantly — what to carry, what to skip, and which brand actually holds up to salt, sun and a wet bilge. So here's the straight answer, plus a look at the kit we point Easy Inflatables owners to first: SURVIVAL First Aid Kits, designed and packed on the NSW Central Coast.

Why a marine-specific kit (not the supermarket one)

A standard chemist first aid kit is built for a kitchen, not a 30-knot southerly. Once you head offshore — even a few hundred metres — three things change:

• Time to definitive care stretches from minutes to hours.
• Environment is wet, salty, UV-blasted and constantly moving.
• Injury mix shifts to lacerations, hook wounds, burns, hypothermia, seasickness, marine stings and trauma from gear under load.

A marine kit is built around that reality: waterproof packaging, trauma-grade dressings, marine-specific items, and a layout you can actually find one-handed while the boat is pitching.

What every Aussie skipper should carry on board

This is the kit list we recommend for any Aerowave Viper owner, tender skipper or tinnie operator running coastal Australian waters. Treat it as a minimum — scale up for offshore or extended trips.

1. Bleeding control

• 2× pressure bandages (10cm)
• 1× tourniquet (CAT or SOF-T Wide)
• Wound closure strips / steri-strips
• Combine pads and non-adherent dressings
• Nitrile gloves (multiple pairs — salt water destroys grip fast)

2. Wound care

• Saline pods for flushing salt, sand and bait out of cuts
• Antiseptic wipes and a small bottle of povidone-iodine
• Splinter probes (for fish spines and hook fragments)
• Waterproof adhesive dressings in 3 sizes

3. Trauma & environmental

• Emergency thermal blanket (hypothermia kills faster than people expect — even in summer)
• Burn gel sachets (outboards, exhausts, hot pans on overnight trips)
• Triangular bandages × 2 (slings, immobilisation, improvised tourniquets)
• Instant cold pack

4. Marine-specific

• Vinegar 100ml (box jellyfish, bluebottle stings — non-negotiable up north)
• Seasickness tablets and ginger chews
• Eye wash (sunscreen, salt and fuel splash)
• Sunburn after-care

5. Medication & documentation

• Paracetamol and ibuprofen (sealed)
• Antihistamines (allergic reactions to stings and bait)
• Personal prescription meds in a labelled waterproof pouch
• Laminated CPR card and a notepad/pencil (pens fail when wet)

6. Packaging

• Roll-top waterproof dry bag OR hard waterproof case
• High-visibility colour — red, orange or yellow
• Floats if dropped overboard (this matters more than people think)

Why we keep pointing customers to SURVIVAL First Aid Kits

SURVIVAL First Aid Kits are designed, packed and dispatched from the NSW Central Coast — about 20 minutes up the road from our Easy Inflatables base. We've watched them grow from a small local outfit into one of the most trusted first aid brands in Australia, with 12,000+ five-star reviews and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

What we actually like about them, from a marine perspective:

Colour-coded compartments

Every SURVIVAL kit is laid out in colour-coded modules — bleeding, wound care, burns, instruments, medication. When you're working on an injury at sea with adrenaline running and a wet deck, you don't have time to read labels. You grab the red panel for bleeding, the blue for wound care, the yellow for burns. It's the kind of detail you only notice when you actually need it.

Genuinely waterproof

The marine range uses heat-sealed waterproof outer bags and a Velcro-closure inner. We've had them rolling around in wet bilges and bow lockers without issue.

Australian-built, Australian-stocked

Stings, snake bites, marine envenomations — SURVIVAL kits are built for Australian conditions, not repackaged American or European product lists.

TGA-listed contents

Every item is therapeutic-goods compliant, which matters for charter operators, fishing tournaments and commercial use.

The three SURVIVAL kits we'd put on an inflatable boat

Ocean Warrior First Aid KIT — A$95.96

The lightweight, waterproof, floating kit developed with Aussie big-wave surfer Mark Visser. Designed for jet skis, kayaks, tenders and small inflatables where space is tight. Fits in a glove box or under-seat bag. Optional SOF Tactical Tourniquet upgrade for serious bleeding control — worth the extra A$60.

Best for: Aerowave Viper 330, AeroCat 330, tenders, day trips inside the heads.

Boaties Bundle — from A$177.50

SURVIVAL's purpose-built marine bundle. Covers a wider range of injuries with extra trauma supplies and marine-specific extras. Comfortably handles a family day on the water or weekend coastal cruising.

Best for: Aerowave Viper 365 / 400, WaveRunner 380, AeroCat 360 / 380, overnight trips.

Marine Scale G First Aid KIT — A$374.96

The big one — built to Australian commercial Scale G marine survey standards. If you're running charters, certified survey vessels, or you simply want a no-compromise offshore kit, this is the one. Comprehensive trauma, IV-ready (where qualified), marine envenomation, burns and resuscitation.

Best for: Sovereign 400 owners running offshore, fishing tournaments, commercial / charter use, anyone heading beyond VHF range from shore.

How to store a marine first aid kit on an inflatable

A great kit stored badly is a useless kit. A few rules we've learned the hard way:

1. Keep it dry, keep it floating. Even a "waterproof" kit benefits from being inside a secondary dry bag. Bright colour, sealed roll top.
2. Don't bury it. It should be the second thing you can grab — after the EPIRB. Under the bow seat is fine. Buried under fuel tanks and anchor rode is not.
3. Two locations on bigger boats. On the Aerowave Viper 400 Sovereign, we recommend one main kit forward and a slim trauma pack near the helm.
4. Check it twice a year. Salt corrodes scissors, heat melts burn gel, paracetamol expires. Diary it.
5. Brief your crew. Every person on board should know where the kit is and what's in the red compartment. Sounds basic — almost no one does it.

What a first aid kit doesn't replace

A great kit is the second line of defence. The first line is:

• A current marine radio licence and a fixed-mount VHF
• A registered EPIRB (mandatory beyond 2nm offshore in NSW)
• A logged trip plan — even if it's just a text to your partner
• A PFD on every body, every time
• A Senior First Aid (HLTAID011) certificate for at least one person on board

If you carry those five, plus a well-built marine kit like the SURVIVAL Ocean Warrior or Boaties Bundle, you're operating well above the average Australian recreational skipper.

Easy Inflatables owners: how we'd kit your boat out

Final word

A marine first aid kit is one of the lowest-cost, highest-impact pieces of safety gear you'll ever buy. Spend A$100–A$400 once, store it properly, and it sits quietly under the seat for years until the day it earns its place ten times over.

If you'd rather have a chat about kitting out your Easy Inflatables boat — first aid, EPIRBs, lifejackets, comms — give us a ring on +61 2 4335 1603. We're on the Central Coast, we run these boats ourselves, and we'll happily talk you through what we actually carry on board.

Stay safe out there.

Related

• Aerowave Viper 365 Open Bow — mid-size catamaran with plenty of dry stowage for a first-aid kit.
• Heavy-duty bow bag — keep your kit dry under the bow.
• Inflatables accessories — under-seat bags, dry storage and safety mounts.