A new Stingray victim in Port Douglas

This morning saw another stingray victim on the fabulous Fourmile Beach in Port Douglas, Australia. This follows too closely for comfort the attack on Steve Irwin on the reef off Port Douglas late last year. Believe me this is very rare. In this case it was not an attack as such, the lady trod on the poor stingray on the beach.

Stingrays have been much maligned of late which is very sad. They don't seek us out but merely protect themselves if they feel threatened. That of course is no comfort whatsoever to the poor casualty. These barbs cause excrutiating pain. Unfortunately not too many people are aware of the proper First Aid treatment. Allow me to remedy that...

Never attempt to pull the barb out - they are shaped similarly to a crude fish hook and any attempt to pull the barb out could cause further serious injury; not to mention the accompanying pain.

Call an ambulance as soon as possible; in Australia you call 000 from a landline or 112 on your mobile. The only relief a first aider can give is to immerse the barbed area into hot water. To achieve this without scalding the casualty, it is imperative that the other limb; ie the uninjured one is submerged into the hot water until you establish how hot the casualty can tolerate it. Then immerse the barbed limb.

Keep the limb immersed until the ambulance arrives or for a minimum of thirty minutes or longer if the emergency operator instructs you to. You will of course need to keep adding to the hot water.

Apparently the heat disperses the poison and lessens the pain.

Don't let this incident put you off any proposed visit to Far North Queensland. I was walking on that beach myself last evening. It is just gorgeous - I have to say we live in paradise. Yes our little piece of paradise does have a few fearsome critters but believe me it is unusual to see them never mind be harmed by them and if you are in their habitat use your common sense and treat them with respect. It is a good idea to do your homework and check on the first aid treatment of our particular varieties before you come.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask. I am a qualified First Aid Instructor and have been involved in First Aid since I was ten.