one of the crew caught a small eagle ray yesterday, it had the hook well and truly embedded in its wing and mouth so I brought it onboard for extraction. I was pretty careful with it but it managed to get me in the foot. Thought I'd post this as evidence of what these things can do, the barb went in like a skewer and stuck in there about 10cm then sliced through the skin like a knife, I removed it slowly as the barb snapped off (4cm removed later in the E.D). We headed for home which is a 45min trip, passed out after 10 minutes, came to and then the pain kicked in, sweating, irregular heartbeat and general ****tyness! Emergency Dept wait was hell, eventually some pain relief, immersion in hot water to kill the enzymes, local anesthetic and 4 staples, I know we are all aware of the dangers of these things and as water users thought this may help if it ever happens to you, ray was released without harm Wasn't all bad though, 5 dhufish including this bloke's first (which was released due to quota!)

ahhh thats no good. Hope the wound heals fast and you can get back out into the water soon.

Ouch, and just when the surf is pumping...Lucky your heart isn't in your foot

Bit of a poor shot with that second staple . I guess once it's in, it's in.

yeah that second one is to allow for "release of fluids" according to Dr Sanjay.

Yes that's right, infection is what they are worried about, the doc cut off the fingers of a surgical glove and used them as drains for me ... Look after it bakesy!

yeeeouch!

Thommo, should I give it some air for about three hours or keep it covered, Dr Sanjay was a little sketchy/distracted about the details.

I really can't/don't want to answer that bakesy, i got bitten by a shark which is a cartilaginous fish same as a ray, all i know is that infection is a real worry with these critters, your doc seems a bit vague from what you've said? I'd be seeking further advise from another professional because you shouldn't be taking this lightly mate.

yep fair enough mate, it was a busy emergency dept and I was far from the worse off so I'll see my GP on Monday, got a tetanus shot but no antibiotics, getting some good care at home shark bite eh? what type?

I see, that explains it a bit better, can be hectic for those guys sometimes......bronze whaler.

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bakesy said...

Thommo, should I give it some air for about three hours or keep it covered, Dr Sanjay was a little sketchy/distracted about the details.

Bakesy it looks like that second staple has actually come out to me mate and one end is in the wound, did they put a dressing on it when you left A&E, you should keep it covered with a dressing dont let it dry out

You took the dressing off for the photo didnt you
I am studying wound management at Uni at the moment
Boof

thanks boof, yep dressing applied photo taken before new one put on this morning will keep covered, thanks for that.

Nasty Bakesy.
I know this might not help due to having a open wound, but, CRC sprayed on the wound takes the pain away to a bearable threshold. I stood on a big black ray at the cut. It felt like I had been hit with a sledge hammer. Lucky it hit the ankle bone and snapped off only a little piece. Same symptoms, sweats, heart beat all over the place and so on. If it wasn't for the pain it would be huge on the drug market. Any how when I got to Peel Health the doctor sprayed CRC on it, 10 mins later I walked out off home.
I have sprayed it on my sons foot when he has stood on cobbler during surf science, he still got the day off though. It sounds like bull but it works.

is there anything CRC can't do!! I had some onboard too Thanks WM hopefully there's not a next time but it's good to know, any thoughts on why that would work?

Damn, I dunno how happy I'd be to have CRC in an open wound. I have used spraycans of various crap when I've whacked myself when working on drill rigs. Spray long enough from a can and it becomes icy cold - handy when there's no ice packs around. Personally I'd be going with the super hot water treatment - neutralise the protein-based poison (hopefully!).

CRC and a few other lube's are a fish oil based substance. The proteins of the fish oil break down the poison from the protein of the Ray's poison. It is used on trawler boats when a deck hand, while sorting, gets stung by a Ray. You can't just pop into a Dr. out at sea. I have used it for cobbler and jelly fish stings. 1 person told me how they were cut across the chest by a Ray and used CRC to ease the pain, he still needed a heap of stiches to seal the wound but had little pain till he got air lifted to hospital. I was a little uneasy about trying it but it worked like magic.