Jellyfish Headwrap

[gonetobaja]

I dive in a very remote part of Baja Ca. Mexico. I have been stung several times by small and sometimes it seems invisible jellyfish. This weekend when I went for a dive I saw several basketball sized jellyfish with redish brown centers and 1m trailing stingers. It made me very nervous comming off of the bottom because I didnt want to wear one as a headwrap!

We are 3 hrs to the nearest clinic and another 4 hours to the USA for ER care. Does anyone know of a jellyfish sting treatment to relieve pain and stabilize a person after a bad sting? Or some type of medication I could keep in my rescue bag?


I have heard that some jellyfish can even kill a person. I am wondering when my odds will run out and Ill run into a real good one.

Any info would be great.

Thanks

GTB
http://www.gonetobaja.com

 

[Don Pedro]

Make sure you have bottle of vinegar around.... and apply it directly to sting place..
You are right - some of jellyfish are extremely dangerous.

 

[LongFin]

What we learned when scuba diving...make a concoction 50:50 of ammonia and 70% Alcohol and store in a high density plastic container and just bring it with you into the water just in case or in your car. The ammonia will neutralize the nemocytes(toxin loaded barb of the jellyfish) and the alcohol will sterilize.

 

[jodyfreedive]

We have the Portuguese Man-O-War here in the Gulf of Mexico, which technically is not a jellyfish, but only scientists would care or see the difference. Our local aquarium had a jellyfish exhibit for about a year and they said most jellyfish are not poisonous, but I know of the ones that are, they all have long tentacles so those 1-meter long ones would scare me. Here the local government and the news always tell people each year to bring vinegar and meat tenderizer to the beach. The lifeguard stations have it too.

The best precaution is to keep covered as much as possible. Bad jellyfish stings happen because people get tangled in the tentacles and are stung for several minutes. That is actually how the jellyfish capture fish. If you can get away from the tentacles quickly you might be in for some pain, but there will not be enough poison to paralyze your nervous system and possible cause lung or heart failure.

They call the small, sometimes invisible, sea lice. They are usually torn up pieces of the tentacles of larges ones from wave action.

Like I said earlier the best thing is to use precaution and cover your exposed skin. Tentacles do not penetrate clothing. If you wear a hood, gloves, and a full suit, even if its just lycra, there is no way, unless your hypo allergic to the poison, you would ever get enough poison to cause a life threatening situation. In this case the only place you could get stung is the little bit of skin between the mask and the hood, which you could treat on site and continue with your outing.

If you or somebody gets stung and you have no quick access to vinegar or meat tenderizer, than pee on it. That will neutralize the poison almost as good as vinegar. The important thing to do is act fast, because the quicker you neutralize it the less damage the poison does and the less pain a person will have. For instance if you wait 30 minutes it may hurt the next 12 hours, but if you get to it within 5 minutes, it may only hurt for 30 minutes.
Jody

 

[sammydive]

I find covering the skin is the best precaution. It takes the worry out of diving and lets me concentrate on finding and shooting fish.
Sammy

 

[neshamah]

portuguese man of war

take care about the Portuguese Man-O-War

- I was taking to the emergency room in the hospital in Cuba after an
Portuggese man of war touched my back wich produced lack of air and a
burning sensation I was 60 or 70 m away from the shore, there in the hospital they put me SUEROS and I remember the doctor say did you know that in that bed we put a RUSO biger thant you with the same situacion

, I almost couldn't get out of the water that day
, I almost lost my life

i think the best way to avoid this is to have a long wet suit ,, by that time it was imposible for me to have one

saludos

Daniel.

 

[gonetobaja]

Well, Im gonna go with all of the above! I have been wearing stocking on my head like a bank robber. I cut a hole for my mask and a hole for my snorkel. This has been working pretty good but all of my gear has to be on to be effective. Just so everyone know, I got caught in a swarm of string like strands that seemed like jellyfish but looked like thick strands of fishing line drifting in the water. They were wrapping around my face and lips and stinging me and then they would break apart. I got stung pretty good one time on the leg and tried the "pee on it" theroy because it hurt so bad I was willing to try anything. It didnt seem to help, and it still swelled up and got red. I will start carying the 50/50 amonia mix in Alcohol, meat tenderizer, and I was told hot and or cold packs could help also.

What I need is a cream or topical gel I could put on the stings like a burn cream so I can make the ride back to the states as pain free as possible, or at least take away the pain for a customer who has a minor sting and dosent want to leave the islands.

Thanks for all of your input. I knew this board would be able to help me!

See ya at the bottom,

GTB
http://www.gonetobaja.com