Appendix 14 (List of medicines and Equipment) MFAG
List of Medicines
List of Medicines is a group of 28 IMPA-coded items (codes 391901–391928) under Appendix 14 (List of medicines and Equipment) MFAG in the Medicine section (IMPA 39). They are priced per piece (18), per bottle (7) and per tube (2), among others.
Buying guide
The Medical First Aid Guide for Use in Accidents Involving Dangerous Goods (MFAG) is published jointly by IMO, WHO and ILO. It is the chemicals supplement to the International Medical Guide for Ships. It covers the substances in the IMDG Code and the materials in Appendix B of the BC Code, and gives the advice needed to manage chemical poisoning at sea with the facilities a ship has. Its appendix 14 lists the medicines and equipment the guide’s treatments rely on.[1]
This group holds the medicines half of that list, 28 lines in all: antibiotics, eye drops and ointment, inhalers, calcium gluconate gel and tablets, activated charcoal, ethyl alcohol 99.5 %, injectable medicines, oral rehydration salts, plasma expander and isotonic saline. The equipment half (airways, oxygen, syringes) is the neighbouring group. The MFAG’s own tables for specific poisons cover hydrofluoric acid and hydrogen fluoride, organophosphate and carbamate insecticides, cyanides, and methanol and ethylene glycol.[1]
The master or the officer in charge of medical care orders it for a ship that carries dangerous goods, on top of the ordinary medicine chest. ILO guidance under the MLC asks for the specific antidotes and personal protective devices to be on board whenever dangerous goods are carried.[2]
How to specify it
First decide which column of appendix 14 applies. Column A is the minimum for ships whose casualties cannot be hospitalised ashore within 24 hours, column B for 2 to 24 hours, and column C for within two hours. The quantities fall from A to C, and some items are needed only in A: amoxycillin, for example, is 30 capsules in column A and none in B or C.[1]
Check the ship’s medicine chest before ordering. The MFAG preamble says medicines and equipment already in the medicine chest may be counted towards its numbers. Where the list gives alternatives, such as beclomethasone or budesonide inhalers, or salbutamol or terbutaline, one of them is chosen.[1]
Ask for the flag’s own list if it has one. Not every medicine on the MFAG list is licensed in every country, so national authorities may issue a modified list, also in English, with analogous medicines in corresponding quantities. Countries with official medicine chest lists may substitute medicines from the ordinary chest.[1]
Write the generic name, strength and form in full on the requisition, not only the IMPA code. Some lines in this group carry misspelt or doubled names (Budenoside, a second "Ternutaline" line), and the pharmacist dispenses by name and strength. Australian rules are one example of what a supplier must provide: labels in English with the generic name, strength, expiry date and batch number, and morphine and other controlled drugs kept in a separately locked inner cupboard with a controlled drug register.[3]
Rules and certificates
MLC, 2006 Standard A4.1 requires every ship to carry a medicine chest, medical equipment and a medical guide. Their specifics are set by the flag and subject to regular inspection, taking into account the type of ship, the number on board and the nature, destination and duration of voyages. Guideline B4.1.1 adds that if a dangerous cargo is not covered by the latest MFAG, the information and specific antidotes for it should still be made available.[2]
The MFAG asks for labelling, storage and dispensing to follow the International Medical Guide for Ships. Contents and storage conditions are checked at least once a year against the makers’ expiry dates, and medicines used are replaced as soon as possible. National authorities may exempt ships making short regular voyages of ten minutes or less.[1]
Flag rules decide who carries it. Under the Australian rules, for example, every regulated vessel carrying any quantity of IMDG dangerous goods, as cargo or for shipboard use, must have the MFAG, the safety data sheets and the extra antidotes and treatments on board.[3]
The MFAG is published by IMO in the IMDG Code Supplement; the current one is the 2024 edition. Check the list against the edition on board before ordering, because the quantities can change between editions.[4]
Questions buyers ask
- What do columns A, B and C mean in MFAG appendix 14?
- They set the minimum quantities by how soon a casualty can reach hospital ashore: column A when that cannot happen within 24 hours, column B within 2 to 24 hours, and column C within two hours.
- Can the medicines in the ship’s medicine chest count towards the MFAG list?
- Yes. The MFAG preamble says medicines and equipment already in the ship’s medicine chest may be counted towards its numbers, so order only the difference.
- Does every ship need the MFAG medicines?
- They are for ships carrying dangerous goods, and the flag sets the rule. ILO guidance asks for specific antidotes whenever dangerous goods are carried, and national authorities may exempt ships on short regular voyages of ten minutes or less.
Sources
- IMO/WHO/ILO: Medical First Aid Guide for Use in Accidents Involving Dangerous Goods (MFAG), Introduction and Appendix 14, as published in the IMDG Code Supplement (copy at law.resource.org, 2014)
- ILO: Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, as amended (consolidated text), Regulation 4.1, Standard A4.1 and Guideline B4.1.1
- Australian Maritime Safety Authority: AMSA 438, Medical carriage requirements (August 2016)
- Kart.no: IMDG Code Supplement, 2024 Edition (IMO IM210E), publication listing
Published by Sherif Awad, founder of GeoMarineHub — in ship supply since 1990, a family business since 1981 (45 years). Last checked .
At a glance
Part of Medicine (IMPA section 39): The ship’s medical chest — medicines, dressings, instruments and first-aid supplies to the flag scale.
It is one of 2 groups under Appendix 14 (List of medicines and Equipment) MFAG; the others include List of Equipment.
Post the ones you need as a requirement and verified suppliers activated at your port bid on them — sealed, so nobody sees another bid.
- Items
- 28
- IMPA codes
- 391901–391928
- Priced
- per piece · per bottle · per tube
Items
Also under Appendix 14 (List of medicines and Equipment) MFAG
Most requested sections