Stings and Bites
How would you treat a victim who has been stung by a jellyfish?
The degrees of severity of jellyfish stings will vary depending on what type of jellyfish you are stung by. In all cases it is important to remain calm and accordingly. In less severe cases, ice the sting or run it under hot water for approximately 20 minutes.
What if Vinegar is unavailable?
If vinegar is unavailable, you MUST NOT pour fresh water over the sting as this will only make it worse. Also, despite popular belief, urinating on the sting is not useful unless it is very acidic, so in most cases this is not a good option. Make sure you do not ice the sting until you are certain ALL of the stinging cells have been removed. Wash the sting with a seawater and bicarbonate of soda mixture, and then lightly apply the baking soda to the sting. Although this doesn't work as well as vinegar, it is the best alternative found as of now.
What if a person does not know what stung him or her?
If a person is unsure of what has stung them, ask them the amount of pain they are in and judging by the sting marks or lack there of you could make an educated guess based on what you believe it might be. In any case, it is better to be safe then sorry, so you should go with the worst case scenario and treat the sting accordingly.
What if a person was stung by a stingray, sea urchin or spiny fish?
If stung by a sea urchin the best solution/treatment for this is the following 5 steps:
If you are stung by a stingray, do not panic as this can cause more pain. The pain will be excruciating, and the sting should bleed a lot. The sting will also usually leave abrasions or marks on the skin.Always seek medical attention as the stings can be fatal, however if you are in a situation where you are unable to do so, the following steps with help.
Note that if you immediately, experience any nausea, vomiting, muscle cramping or chills, go to the nearest emergency room immediately, as this could be a sign of an allergic reaction or overdose of venom. If you begin to feel the following: tightness in the chest, swelling anywhere on the face, difficulty breathing, welts (hives) anywhere on your body and nausea you are having an allergic reaction! You will need to get to an ER immediately. Any abnormal reaction (besides occasional itch, minor swelling at sting site or reoccurring pain) should be reported to a doctor right away. If in doubt, always seek medical attention, especially if the wound becomes inflamed, or infection does not subside within a few days with at-home treatment. (Brooks L, 2013)
The degrees of severity of jellyfish stings will vary depending on what type of jellyfish you are stung by. In all cases it is important to remain calm and accordingly. In less severe cases, ice the sting or run it under hot water for approximately 20 minutes.
What if Vinegar is unavailable?
If vinegar is unavailable, you MUST NOT pour fresh water over the sting as this will only make it worse. Also, despite popular belief, urinating on the sting is not useful unless it is very acidic, so in most cases this is not a good option. Make sure you do not ice the sting until you are certain ALL of the stinging cells have been removed. Wash the sting with a seawater and bicarbonate of soda mixture, and then lightly apply the baking soda to the sting. Although this doesn't work as well as vinegar, it is the best alternative found as of now.
What if a person does not know what stung him or her?
If a person is unsure of what has stung them, ask them the amount of pain they are in and judging by the sting marks or lack there of you could make an educated guess based on what you believe it might be. In any case, it is better to be safe then sorry, so you should go with the worst case scenario and treat the sting accordingly.
What if a person was stung by a stingray, sea urchin or spiny fish?
If stung by a sea urchin the best solution/treatment for this is the following 5 steps:
- Using tweezers or your hand remove all of the spines from the sea urchin that are in your foot (or whatever body part). They Sea Urchin release venom through their spine so it is important to get these out as quickly as possible, but be careful as the spine are prone to breaking.
- Soak a towel in vinegar and wrap around stung area.
- Soak the sting in hot water (as hot as you can handle) for approximately 20-40 minutes.
- When you go to bed, wrap a vinegar soaked towel around your sting and cover with plastic wrap to ensure it stays moist.
- Observe the sting for 2 days afterwards, and if you are experiencing
- If necrosis, eczema-like skin rash, or secondary bacterial infection sets in, see your doctor to get the wound looked at and treated.
- If you experience shortness of breath and/or pain breathing, or the urchin's spines are set deep in the skin near a joint, see your doctor for treatment options.
If you are stung by a stingray, do not panic as this can cause more pain. The pain will be excruciating, and the sting should bleed a lot. The sting will also usually leave abrasions or marks on the skin.Always seek medical attention as the stings can be fatal, however if you are in a situation where you are unable to do so, the following steps with help.
Note that if you immediately, experience any nausea, vomiting, muscle cramping or chills, go to the nearest emergency room immediately, as this could be a sign of an allergic reaction or overdose of venom. If you begin to feel the following: tightness in the chest, swelling anywhere on the face, difficulty breathing, welts (hives) anywhere on your body and nausea you are having an allergic reaction! You will need to get to an ER immediately. Any abnormal reaction (besides occasional itch, minor swelling at sting site or reoccurring pain) should be reported to a doctor right away. If in doubt, always seek medical attention, especially if the wound becomes inflamed, or infection does not subside within a few days with at-home treatment. (Brooks L, 2013)
- Remove the barb, if it is still in the sting. (generally it isn't, however do NOT remove the barb if you have been stung in the chest area, as it can cause internal bleeding).
- Soak the sting in boiling hot water for 2 hours, changing the water every 10 minutes to keep a constant temperature. Not only does the hot water help with the venom, but at the same time it will significantly reduce the amount of pain the victim is experiencing. Beach lifeguards sometimes keep buckets of hot water around the station on busy summer days - you could ask to use it. The venom will often become gel or jelly-like and ooze from the open wound--this is desired. (Brooks L, 2013)
- Wrap the wound in a towel soaked in water after the wound has finished oozing.
- Take pain-relieving antibiotics for the pain and swelling of the sting, however if the sting has increased redness and soreness, visit the doctor immediately.
- When you first get stung, don't try to stop the blood but let it pour out to get as much of the venom (and any bacteria) out as you can. When it stops bleeding push near the wound to make it bleed more.
- Dish liquid, bar soap or ammonia will help neutralize the venom.
- Take antibiotics to avoid infection. Push out any venom as soon as possible to reduce pain. Keep the water consistently hot. Take a pain pill right away.
- This process take at least two hours so keep your foot in the Hot water.
- If you are on the boat take hot water from the mortar and put that on the sting.
- Hot water really works. The pain associated with the sting is absolutely excruciating. If you are taking care of someone who just got stung, if it is not already in hot water, stop reading, go soak it in hot water.
- If stung in the hand, make sure and remove any rings so that any swelling will not cause loss of digits.
- During or after the hot water soak, perform effleurage with oil on the lower leg and foot (avoiding the sting site itself) in the direction of the heart. I found this had a dramatic effect on lessening the pain once it had subsided to the point that it was no longer excruciating.
- Drag or shuffle your feet when you are walking into the water so that you bump into stingrays instead of stepping on top of them.
- Do not panic!