Bites & Stings

  • Snakes
  • Spiders
  • Scorpions
  • Mammals
  • Jelly fish and sea urchins
  • Sharks

Venomous Spiders

  • Brown Recluse
  • Widow
  • Funnel Web
  • Tarantula

 

Venomous Snakes

 

 

ELAPIDSVIPERS
                                          Cobras (Africa & Asia)                                          Rattlesnake (Americas)
                                          Coral Snakes (Americas)                                          Copperhead (Americas)
                                          Mambas (Africa)                                          Night adder (Africa)
                                          Kraits (Asia)                                          Bushmaster (So. America)

 

Snake Bite First Aid

Do:

  • Protect from further bite
  • (safely try to identify snake)
  • Cleanse (unless Venom Detection Kit)
  • Remove constricting items
  • Immobilize
  • Transport

Do not:

  • Apply tourniquet
  • Incise / use
  • suction
  • Apply electric shock
  • Add drugs / EtOH
  • Get bitten

Do:

  • Protect yourself from more bites by doing the following:
  • If you’re looking for a (safely try to identify snake)
  • Disinfect (unless Venom Detection Kit)
  • Get rid of everything that restricts your movement.
  • Immobilize
  • Transport

Don’ts:

  • Use a tourniquet.
  • Use / incise
  • Suction
  • Use an electric shock
  • Incorporate medicines / EtOH
  • Become bitten

Snake Bite

PREVENTION

  • DO NOT INTERFERE WITH THE BITE!
  • Protective gear
  • Good footwear
  • Walking stick
  • Flashlight
  • Check your shoes
  • Keep an eye on where you tread/reach!

 

Hazardous Marine Life

Sting

Coral, Anemone, Jellyfish

Puncture

Stingray, Spiny Fish, Urchin

Bite / Envenom

Octopus, Shark, Barracuda,Jellyfish

  • Rinse with seawater (not fresh water)
  • Immerse in HOT WATER: Immersion in hot water is preferable to ice.
  • packs vs. ice packs for clinically
  • symptomatic pain alleviation at 10 and 20 minutes (1 trial)
  • Vinegar with 5% acetic acid: Vinegar is good for box jellyfish and their smaller cousins, Irukandji.
  • Vinegar or Adolph’s meat tenderizer may
  • make skin appear worse or encourage discharge and make the discomfort worse.

Sea Urchins

  • Soak in HOT WATER
  • Carefully remove embedded spines
  • Shave to eliminate pedicellariae
  • “Spine dye” could be misleading

Marine “Bites”

  • Consider Vibrio & Aeromonas
  • Species: Quinolone, Doxycycline, TMP-SMX
  • Standard “trauma” care
  • Infection and foreign body risk