TASRU - First Aid and Safety

First Aid

Treatment

Ensure safety of first aid provider then remove victim from danger. Check for conscious level and assess airway, breathing, circulation as per Australian Resuscitation Council's recommendations; resuscitate if required.

Restrain victim or others from rubbing the sting. The sting site should be doused liberally with vinegar. This will ensure that any undischarged nematocysts are made inactive and unable to fire. Vinegar does not alter the venom in any way and must not be considered an antidote.

The use of pressure immobilisation bandages (PIB) has been shown, by research conducted by TASRU, to potentially cause more harm than good. As a result PIB has been discontinued as apart of the first aid treatment of box jellyfish stings.

The image below is a map of the treatment guidelines from above. It details the differences in procedure between Irukandji and Chironex fleckeri stings.

First Aid guide

Symptoms of stings

General symptoms, in humans, are that of local and regional pain often spreading to the muscle masses and occasionally the entire body. Weakness, nausea, anxiety, headache, spasms in the back and stomach, vascular spasms, vertigo, haemolysis and difficulty in respiration have also been reported.

Sting marks on victims leg

	Treatment Ensure safety of first aid provider then remove victim from danger. Check for conscious level and assess airway, breathing, circulation as per Australian Resuscitation Council's recommendations; resuscitate if required. Restrain victim or others from rubbing the sting. The sting site should be doused liberally with vinegar. This will ensure that any undischarged nematocysts are made inactive and unable to fire. Vinegar does not alter the venom in any way and must not be considered an antidote. The use of pressure immobilisation bandages (PIB) has been shown, by research conducted by TASRU, to potentially cause more harm than good. As a result PIB has been discontinued as apart of the first aid treatment of box jellyfish stings. The image below is a map of the treatment guidelines from above. It details the differences in procedure between Irukandji and Chironex fleckeri stings. Symptoms of stings General symptoms, in humans, are that of local and regional pain often spreading to the muscle masses and occasionally the entire body. Weakness, nausea, anxiety, headache, spasms in the back and stomach, vascular spasms, vertigo, haemolysis and difficulty in respiration have also been reported.