Bites and Stings

Bites and Stings
Borlongan, Dizon, Patangan, Samson, Ybiernas

Bites vs Stings
● Inject anti-coagulant saliva so ● Inject painful toxic venom
they can feed on your blood through stingers into your system
● Non-venomous bites may spread ● Venomous stings cause local
diseases like Lyme, Rocky reactions such as pain, allergic
Mountain Spotted Fever, reactions and intense swelling
encephalitis and malaria but for and redness
most people, they just cause
maddening itches
Overview
● Most insect bites and stings are not serious and will get better within a
few hours or days
● However, some cases may lead to an infection and cause a severe allergic
reaction (anaphylaxis) or spread serious illness (e.g. malaria)
● Symptoms such as swelling of the face, lips, and tongue, difficulty
breathing, and generalised rashes are potentially life-threatening and
require urgent medical attention
Bites and Stings ●
●
Bee & Wasp Sting
Snake Bite
from Land Creatures ● Spider Bite

General First Aid for Insect Bites and Stings
● Remove the sting, tick or hairs if still in the skin.
● Wash the affected area with soap and water.
● Apply a cold compress (such as a flannel or cloth cooled with cold water)
or an ice pack to any swelling for at least 10 minutes.
● Raise or elevate the affected area if possible, as this can help reduce
swelling.
● Avoid scratching the area or bursting any blisters, to reduce the risk of
infection
Bee & Wasp Sting
Modality: stinger
Effect: Swelling due to allergic reaction (local or full body), difficulty breathing
First Aid: Remove stingers, if any, with thumb or credit card. Apply cold
pressure to affected areas to reduce swelling. If there are breathing
difficulties, encourage the patient to sit in an upright position. If there are no
breathing difficulties but the patient is pale and sick, make them lie down with
their legs raised.
Snake Bite
Modality: venom
Effect:
● redness and swelling

● stinging or burning sensation
● feelings of dizziness, nausea, and confusion
● paralysis or coma
Snake Bite
First Aid:
Always treat any snake bite as a venomous bite. The main goal is to reduce
lymphatic flow by applying continuous firm pressure over the affected limb.
This is called the Pressure Immobilisation Technique (PIT).
Pressure Immobilisation Technique
Step 1. Lay the victim down.
Step 2. With a broad (minimum 7.5cm wide) elastic bandage, start at the toes (or hand if bitten on
the arm) and wrap the bandage very firmly up the entire limb. If the bandage does not cover the
entire limb, start with a new bandage at the point the last bandaged finished until the entire limb is
covered. The compression bandage should be firm enough to reduce lymphatic movement but not
constrict blood flow. Ensure you leave the tips of the toes/fingers out to monitor circulation.
Pressure Immobilisation Technique
Step 3. Once the entire limb has been covered, mark the bite site with a pen or
some dirt from the ground. This is helpful for emergency services personnel.
Splint the limb (including joints) to prevent movement. For bites to the leg, this
can be achieved by strapping the legs together using slings or other suitable
material. Bites to the arm can be supported in a sling or splinted. Do not
remove the bandage once applied. Make the victim comfortable and continue
to provide reassurance until arrival of emergency services.
Spider Bite
Modality: venom
General Effect:
● Sharp pain at bite site

● Redness and swelling
● Sweating
● Nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain
Spider Bite
General First Aid:
Wash the injured site with soap and water. Apply a cold pack to the bitten or
stung area for 15 minutes and reapply if pain continues. Seek medical
attention if the patient develops severe symptoms
Funnel-Web spider bite Red-back spider bite
● copious secretion of saliva

● muscular twitching and breathing
difficulty ● intense local pain which increases and
● small hairs stand on end spreads
● numbness around mouth ● small hairs stand on end
● copious tears ● patchy sweating
● disorientation ● headache
● fast pulse ● muscle weakness or spasms
● markedly increased blood pressure
● confusion leading to unconsciousness
Funnel-Web and Red-back Spider Bites
First Aid:
Lie the patient down. If on a limb, apply an elasticised roller bandage (10–15
cm wide) over the bite site as soon as possible. Apply a further elasticised
roller bandage (10–15 cm wide), starting just above the fingers or toes and
moving upwards on the bitten limb as far as can be reached. Apply the
bandage as tightly as possible to the limb. Immobilise the bandaged limb
using splints. Keep the patient lying down and completely still (immobilised).
Stay with the patient until medical aid arrives.
Bites and Stings from Sea Creatures
It may be difficult to identify the danger of the bite or sting if the victim does not
identify the creature involved.
First aid protocols are highly dependent on the creature involved.

Bites and Stings ●
●
Blue-ringed Octopus Sting
Box Jellyfish Sting
from Sea Creatures ● Aggressive Fish Bites
Blue-ringed Octopus Sting
Modality: Bite, venomous saliva
Effect: Respiratory Failure &
Paralysis
First-Aid: Seek immediate medical
help and do CPR, pressure
Immobilisation bandage on
point of contact
Box Jellyfish Sting
Tropical Stingers are the most dangerous
type of stingers, the Box Jellyfish is one.
Modality: Tentacle Stingers, nematocyst
Effect: agonizing pain, leads to hyperkalemia and
Cardiovascular colapse
Box Jellyfish Sting
First Aid: Call for immediate medical
help, pour vinegar on skin liberally,
wash with sea water, remove stingers
using gloves. CPR if necessary.
DO NOT use alcohol as they hasten the release of the
venom
Aggressive Fish Bites
Carnivorous fish can inflict sizeable
bite wounds. First aid would be
similar to wound protocols:
Add pressure to the wound
Stop the bleeding until you get to shore
Clean and manage the wound like a laceration.

General Water ● Be aware of the marine life in
the area
Safety and ● Shuffle not step, it gives them
a warning and you don’t put
Precautions ●
your full weight into your foot
Proper clothing, booties for
fringing coral reef areas,
wetsuits for deep diving
● Learn proper ways to interact
with marine life
Don’t let these stop you from going into the ocean.
Just be smart and respect the marine life.
References
https://www.healthline.com/health/marine-animal-stings-or-bites#takeaway
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/sea-creature-stings
https://firstaidforlife.org.uk/
https://www.paradisefirstaid.com.au/snake-bite-first-aid/
http://stjohn.org.au/assets/uploads/fact%20sheets/english/FS_spiderbites.pdf
https://www.emsaonline.com/mediacenter/articles/00000156.html

Bites and Stings

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Bites and Stings

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Bites and Stings

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Bites and Stings

Borlongan, Dizon, Patangan, Samson, Ybiernas

from Land Creatures ● Spider Bite

● redness and swelling

● Sharp pain at bite site

General First Aid:

● copious secretion of saliva

First aid protocols are highly dependent on the creature involved.

Effect: Respiratory Failure &

First-Aid: Seek immediate medical

help and do CPR, pressure

type of stingers, the Box Jellyfish is one.

Modality: Tentacle Stingers, nematocyst

Effect: agonizing pain, leads to hyperkalemia and

help, pour vinegar on skin liberally,

wash with sea water, remove stingers

using gloves. CPR if necessary.

DO NOT use alcohol as they hasten the release of the

bite wounds. First aid would be

similar to wound protocols:

Add pressure to the wound

Stop the bleeding until you get to shore

Clean and manage the wound like a laceration.

You might also like