Jellyfish sting
Posted on 07/30/2005 6:12:25 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Tragic water accidents happen quickly. The most common reason for aquatic mishaps is a lack of safety knowledge. Lifeguards recommend the following safety tips:
• Learn to swim
• Swim near a lifeguard
• Never swim alone
• Supervise children closely, even when lifeguards are present
• Don't rely on flotation devices, such as rafts, you may lose them in the water
• If caught in a rip current, swim sideways until free, don't swim against the current's pull
• Alcohol and swimming don't mix
• Protect your head, neck, and spine — don't dive into unfamiliar waters — feet first, first time
• If you are in trouble, call or wave for help
• Follow regulations and lifeguard directions
• Swim parallel to shore if you wish to swim long distances
• No glass containers at the beach — broken glass and bare feet don't mix
• No beach fires except in designated areas — fire residue and superheated sand can severely burn bare feet -- use a barbecue that is elevated off the sand
• Never turn your back to the ocean — you may be swept off coastal bluffs or tide pool areas and into the water by waves that can come without warning
Rip currents
Rip currents are the most threatening natural hazard along the coast. They pull victims away from the beach. The United States Lifesaving Association has found that 80 percent of the rescues effected by ocean lifeguards involve saving those caught in rip currents.
A rip current is a seaward moving current that circulates water back to sea after it is pushed ashore by waves. Each wave accumulates water on shore creating seaward pressure. This pressure is released in an area with the least amount of resistance which is usually the deepest point along the ocean floor. Rip currents also exist in areas where the strength of the waves are weakened by objects such as rock jetties, piers, natural reefs, and even large groups of bathers. Rip currents often look like muddy rivers flowing away from shore.
Rip currents are sometimes mistakenly called "rip tides" or "undertows." These are misnomers. Rip currents are not directly associated with tides and they do not pull people under.
Try to avoid swimming where rip currents are present, but if you become caught in a one, swim parallel to the shore until the pull stops and then swim back to shore. If you are unable to return to the beach, tread water and wave for lifeguard assistance.
Stay at least 100 feet away from piers and jetties. Rip currents often exist along the side of fixed objects in the water.
Be aware of ocean conditions. Lifeguards are trained to identify potential hazards. Ask a lifeguard about the conditions before entering the water.
If you see someone drowning
• Call 9-1-1 immediately. The National Spa and Pool Institute advises installing a telephone or using a cordless phone in any pool area.
• If the victim is within throwing distance, throw a floatable object to them. This includes a life jacket, kick board or even an empty gallon jug.
• If the victim is within reaching distance, assist them by extending something long, such as a rope, pole, ring bowie or a tree branch.
• If you must enter the water to assist someone, take a flotation device large enough to carry two adults safety, says Jeff Ellis and Associates. Keep the device between you and the person in distress; even a child can put an adult at risk in deep water.
Jellyfish and other beach hazards
Jellyfish can be more harmful than they appear with long, spindly tentacles that can inflict red welts and severe pain. If you should happen to come into unfriendly contact with one, however, here are some remedies to ease your pain, provided by Beebe Medical Center Emergency Department.
• Wash the area with sea water
• Apply vinegar, or if it is unavailable, rubbing alcohol or baking soda
• Remove tentacles with tweezers
• Apply shaving cream and shave area with a butter knife or tongue blade.
• Reapply vinegar and apply cortisone cream
• A physician should be contacted immediately if any of the following symptoms develop: nausea, vomiting, joint pain, headache, shortness of breath or a stumbling gait. Some people rave about the benefits of pressing a fresh slice of papaya on the sting. Welts are supposed to disappear within minutes.
Coping with stings
Bees, hornets and wasps are among the more common stingers in our area and their stings can cause pain, swelling and redness for up to 2 days. Here are some ways to relieve the discomfort. To avoid stings, walk calmly away from insects and avoid wearing perfume or bright yellow clothes when outdoors.
• Drag the stinger and sting sac out of the wound with a needle. As a last resort, a credit card can be used. Do not use tweezers because they could cause more venom to be squeezed out.
• Wash the wound with soap and water and apply cold compresses to reduce the swelling.
• Take an aspirin or Tylenol if you feel continuing discomfort.
• If you experience dizziness or difficulty breathing, get emergency help immediately.
Basic sun safety tips
• Limit outdoor activities between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the summer months. Therefore, play golf, tennis, swim, etc., in the early morning or late afternoon.
• Wear a good pair of sun glasses to ward off the sun from your eyes and some kind of protection -- the looser the better -- on your head.
• Clouds and particulate matter in the air scatter sunlight. Therefore, you may receive a "surprise sunburn" even on a cloudy day.
• Some drugs and cosmetics — Tetacycline, diuretics, major tranquilizers -- may increase susceptibility to sunburn because they contain substances that cause the skin to absorb more of the sun's radiation.
These "photosensitivity reactions" may also be caused by birth control pills. Your physician can advise you about medications that can cause problems in the sun.
Jellyfish sting
And if the ocean should unexpectedly recede in a big way, run like hell in the opposite direction...
I know what you mean.
Okay now you did it.
We demand better pictures of your wife's boobs.
I'm in North Dakota now. I remember clearing them out of haul seines, Phike (sp?) Nets, Gill Nets, and Crabpots.
Miserable critters, especially after someone experimented with some chemicals in Chaptico Bay and wiped out the millfoil which kept them offshore.
Once that vegetation was gone, there was nothing to keep them off the beach (that is a smell I will never forget).
" fire residue and superheated sand can severely burn bare feet -- use a barbecue that is elevated off the sand"
And the coals stay lit for a very long time too!
I dug a firepit in beach sand and lit a bag of charcoal around 11pm one night and cooked some steaks. Before going to bed I covered up the pit with sand. At 6:00pm the next day I dug out the pit to light a new fire and found live coals from the previous night's bag of charcoal.
I think a lot of people were educated recently.
Amazing.
We always preferred to swim in lakes and fortunately they were also plentiful.
Just don't like the combination of salt, sand, and stinging jellyfish.
LOL!
The worst thing that can happen around here is you get bitten by a blue crab
Thanks for the compliment but I got it from the Georgetown Times.
I thought it was well written.
Yes, the rip currents are deadly and don't need to be if you know how to swim out of them.
Your beaches have been discovered!
10th generation! That's something.
Kidding accepted.
Here in the land of ten thousand taxes we have what
the old timers called burn nettles.. I do not know the
real name of the plant, but nasty as heck. We used railroad
gloves to pull them out, cause if you touched them the
burning,swelling and itching was horrible. They also blend
in very well with other plants and weeds.
Use your imagination.
Actually not that uncommon, or at least wasn't until the last 30 years around here.
You consider this information a "safety tip"?
Okaaaay.
And, by the way, for a warm coat or umbrella, all I would really have to do is open a window to find out if it's cold, or look at the raindrops on the window pane to know if I needed an umbrella.
But, then, I DON'T rely on the weatherpeople to know for sure, either. They have been known to be wrong. That doesn't annoy me, either. That is such OLD, OLD news, the weather forecast being wrong, that I take it in stride.
Imagine how we survived without T.V. telling us all this information and warning us about such common sense things. How DID we survive?
Lol. We DID have the old folks to tell us when it was going to rain -- they always felt it in their joints.
And, of course, there was (and still is) always the Farmer's Almanac...you remember, the one with the hole in the upper left hand corner? :o)
That never happened to me, but I can understand that it would be terrifying.
The worst thing that happened to me was in a stream in Wisconsin. It was a place people went to go tubing and cool off.
I was swimming back upstream underwater and someone jumped off the bank and landed square on my back. It knocked the breath out of me. Luckily I'm a strong swimmer. After I surfaced, it took what seemed like forever to catch my breath.
It made an impression on me and to this day the idea of not being able to breathe is still there, lurking in my mind from time to time.
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