Army Scorpion Expert in Kuwait Stung by Insect, Irony

American Forces Press Service ^ | Sgt. Sarah Scully, USA

[SandRat]

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2, 2006 -- The irony stung worse than the scorpion.

Army Capt. Stephen Garvin, an entomologist with the 981st Medical Detachment supporting 3rd Army/U.S. Army Central in Kuwait, was stung by a deadly scorpion. U.S. Army photo  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.

A soldier dedicated to studying dangerous wildlife recently got attacked by one of the aggressive fat-tailed scorpions he spent months warning other soldiers to avoid.

Army Capt. Stephen Garvin, an entomologist with the 981st Medical Detachment supporting 3rd Army/U.S. Army Central in Kuwait, made a routine visit to a portable toilet at Camp Buehring around 5 a.m. on Oct. 5 when he felt something crawling on his right ankle. Thinking it was a fly, he smacked the offending insect with his left foot and ground it against his ankle -- and that’s when he felt the sting.

“I knew it was a scorpion as soon as it stung me,” said Garvin, a 33-year-old active-duty soldier from Stillwater, Okla. “My first thought was, ‘I can’t believe this is happening.’”

After stomping on the 2-inch scorpion a few times to make sure it had died, Garvin scooped it up using toilet paper and immediately sought medical attention. He recognized the crushed arachnid as one of the top three deadliest scorpions in the world, capable of killing a person in seven hours. Within an hour and a half from the venom injection, Garvin suffered extreme nausea, headache and dizziness.

“Things happened so fast; that’s when I started getting concerned. I called the doctor over and said, ‘Something’s wrong,’” said Garvin, who passed out 10 minutes later and didn’t wake up until the next evening.

Garvin was quickly airlifted to Camp Arifjan, put on a respirator and given an antivenom shot. He has slowly recovered and endured a 10-day migraine as a result of the scorpion’s sting.

He had a “classic presentation” of symptoms, said Army Maj. Dennis Kilian, 3rd Army/U.S. Army Central force health prevention officer.

Although half of scorpion stings result in little or no venom spread to the victim, soldiers who are stung by a scorpion have a 50-percent chance of sharing Garvin’s experience, Kilian said.

But out of the six stings reported at Camp Buehring during the last year, Garvin stood out as the only one to get venom injected.

He also stood out because he normally works with the same servicemembers who treated him for the sting. “They all know him, and they were all very concerned,” said Army Maj. Brian Copeland, 981st Medical Detachment commander. Copeland also was wryly amused that an expert on scorpions was stung by one. Now recovered, Garvin has already started receiving nicknames, such as “Captain Scorpion” and “The Scorpion King.” Colleagues drop by with witty remarks such as, “There are better ways to make a name for yourself,” and “You don’t have to get stung to be able to teach soldiers about the effects of scorpion venom.”

It’s “like being something between a celebrity and a circus freak,” Garvin said with a smile.

He only had 30 days to go before finishing his first deployment, but he now has a story to tell and a souvenir to show. Garvin preserved the crushed scorpion that stung him and plans to use it in further teachings of dangers troops face in the Middle East. “We all have to take something back,” Kilian said.

(Army Sgt. Sarah Scully is assigned to the 40th Public Affairs Detachment.)

This 2-inch scorpion is one of the top three deadliest scorpions in the world, capable of killing a person in seven hours. This one stung a U.S. Army entomologist in Kuwait in October. U.S. Army photo   Download screen-resolution    Download high-resolution

[SandRat]

Irony and Agony leads to embarrassment.

[TheDoctorNoh]

Technically, scorpions aren't insects; they're arachnids, related to spiders...not to be pedantic :D

[edpc]

Odd title, since they refer to the scorpion as an insect, yet correctly call it an arachnid in the article.

[chilepepper]

now he's even *more* of a expert and can accurately describe what scorpion venom feels like coursing through your veins...

[bert]

Pedantic ditto.

It's science and exposes the ignorance of reporters who have no science.

[Killborn]

Might wanna temper your comments. This isn't a DSM butt boy moron, this is a servicewoman reporting.

[Yo-Yo]

Do as I say...

[bert]

The rule stil applies. The headline is proof.

[SkyPilot]

Gosh, I hate that part of the world.

[patton]

Seems to me, every time I went through jungle school down in Panama, they had an instructor wheeled in, suffering from "two-step" poison.

Sure added emphasis.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

We have little brown scorpions here in Missouri but no matter. The spiders get em.

[Ax]

The first scorpion I ever saw was when I turned on the light in the living room in Havana. I had been watching "Sea Quest," and went to get a beer at the commercial. That bad boy was 5" and was on a cushion across the coffee table from me. After my heart went back to my chest, having traveled up my throat, I picked up a running shoe and approached the cushion from the left. I picked the cushion up and shook it, dropping the brute down the to terrazzo floor. I smacked it once and it hardly made him (or her, I wasn't about to examine it) look up. I hit it a second time and the brute figured I was serious. After the third smack, he was KIA. But there was no mess on the floor; his shell was that hard.

One of my buddies there had been the Commander of the Special Forces SCUBA school in Panama. He said that when he was at the Jungle Operations Training Center at Fort Sherman, one of his instructors told him that if he were to be stung by a scorpion, he should immediately cut the brute in half with his bayonet, and as its juices were flowing out, he should rub that on the site of the sting.

My gardener in Havana told me that to avoid being stung, one should grab the scorpion in one's fist, thereby limiting Brer Scorpion's ability to swing his tail.

Ladies and gentlemen, there are two theories that are going to remain untested by the Axeman.

[Red Steel]

That one not too bad, as I recall, its those little indigenous green ones that's over there.

[Killborn]

At least she's in the military and isn't shilling for Al Qaeda and Iran.

That shows she's plenty smart. :)

[patton]

Up in Maine, they call that lobster, and EAT IT.

Sick puppies.

[patton]

You'all also have the brown recluse.

Shhhhhhuuuuudddddddeeeer.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Yup but they're pretty rare. The scorpions get snared in spider webs. Mr. Recluse is not a web builder, from what I understand, so it must be someone meaner...

[TASMANIANRED]

Just plain ugly critter.

[patton]

Yep. Mean, extremely poisonous. Hides in a hole, pops out, can kill a grown man.