Roombaguy
Contributor
In today's cayman Compass
=================================
Lionfish sting nearly costs man his finger
A dive instructor who was catching lionfish on a reef in West Bay was stung so badly by one of the venomous fish that doctors told him he could be in danger of losing his finger.
Aaron Hunt, who has caught many lionfish since being certified to cull them nearly a year ago, said the pain was the most excruciating he had ever experienced.
I had a burst appendix two months ago, and this was much worse, he said.
In the end, he did not lose his index finger, but he did lose all the skin on the finger down to the second knuckle.
Mr. Hunt was treated for nearly a week, returning to the hospital daily so doctors could examine and redress the wound, each time having to remove bandages in a painful process.
Lionfish are becoming an increasingly common sight in Cayman waters and the Department of Environment reports that since early 2008 when they were first spotted in Little Cayman, more than 1,500 have been caught by divers on local reefs.
Marine conservation laws, which prohibit divers take anything from the reefs, were amended to allow for the removal of the lionfish, which have voracious appetites and can wipe out the marine life population of a reef in just weeks.
Mr. Hunt said he had been stung a couple of times by lionfish before, but those were minor stings and, by immersing the wound in hot water, the pain had quickly eased.
He admitted that those previous encounters with lionfish may have made him less careful than he should have been when dealing with the fish. That emboldened me. I thought if I got stung, all I would have to do is put in hot water for 20 minutes to an hour and it would be fine, he said.
Mr. Hunt had been diving with his buddy on Saturday, 15 May at Turtle Reef, between DiveTech and Boatswains Beach in West Bay, around 12.30pm when he was stung while trying to catch a large lionfish with nets. I wasnt too concerned if I got stung. Im not saying I was being reckless, but I did go ahead and use my hand to coax the lionfish into the net, he said.
Around 6pm, after several hours of keeping his hand in the water, he realised his finger had begun to blister.
I have enough medical treatment to know that, with burns, when blisters appear, thats a very serious symptom... so at that point, I realised I needed to see a doctor, he said. At the hospital, they told me they had never seen anyone come in with a reaction like this before.
He was given Lidocaine, a local anaesthetic used to relieve burning and pain from skin inflammations, and then the doctor removed the dead skin that was already sloughing off Mr. Huntes finger.
Hospital staff took an ultrasound of his hand to ensure that there was no barb from the fishs spine still embedded in the flesh, but found none.
The doctor told me that the venom had killed so much tissue in my finger, I could lose the remainder of my finger, not just the skin, Mr. Hunt said, adding that if he had not gone to the doctor when he did, he would have lost his finger.
He was given a tetanus shot and antibiotics and told to come back the next day. He returned to the hospital each day for a week until he was given the all clear.
Mr. Hunt said he wanted others to know how serious a lionfish sting can be, now that so many divers are catching them. Theres very little information out there about lionfish stings, he said.
Although he owns a pair of gloves, which can be used to catch lionfish, he was not wearing them at the time.
Bradley Johnson, a research officer at the Department of Environment, said the best advice he could give divers to avoid being stung like Mr. Hunt was Wear gloves!
The puncture-proof Hex-Armor gloves that we wear would have stopped the spine from penetrating the skin and avoided the envenomation. In our licensing talks we also stress that you should get yourself seen by a doctor if youve been stung since everyone reacts differently to the venom.
Using nets with long handles will keep you further away from the fish as well, he said.
He added: This is a very rare case as I havent heard of anyone being stung this badly before; even our international colleagues that have worked on lionfish for years havent seen a case this bad.
Most of the cases we hear about are successfully treated by immersion in non-scalding hot water and dont require additional treatment. The hot water will usually neutralise the venom to the point where you are pain free but that didnt happen in Aarons case.
The Department of Environment is holding lionfish information evenings this month - on 19 June at South Sound Community Centre and on 26 June at John A, Cumber School in West Bay. All information evenings start at 6.30pm.
For more information on the lionfish information evenings, contact 949-8469.
==========================
cayCompass.com :: Lionfish sting nearly costs man his finger
=================================
Lionfish sting nearly costs man his finger
A dive instructor who was catching lionfish on a reef in West Bay was stung so badly by one of the venomous fish that doctors told him he could be in danger of losing his finger.
Aaron Hunt, who has caught many lionfish since being certified to cull them nearly a year ago, said the pain was the most excruciating he had ever experienced.
I had a burst appendix two months ago, and this was much worse, he said.
In the end, he did not lose his index finger, but he did lose all the skin on the finger down to the second knuckle.
Mr. Hunt was treated for nearly a week, returning to the hospital daily so doctors could examine and redress the wound, each time having to remove bandages in a painful process.
Lionfish are becoming an increasingly common sight in Cayman waters and the Department of Environment reports that since early 2008 when they were first spotted in Little Cayman, more than 1,500 have been caught by divers on local reefs.
Marine conservation laws, which prohibit divers take anything from the reefs, were amended to allow for the removal of the lionfish, which have voracious appetites and can wipe out the marine life population of a reef in just weeks.
Mr. Hunt said he had been stung a couple of times by lionfish before, but those were minor stings and, by immersing the wound in hot water, the pain had quickly eased.
He admitted that those previous encounters with lionfish may have made him less careful than he should have been when dealing with the fish. That emboldened me. I thought if I got stung, all I would have to do is put in hot water for 20 minutes to an hour and it would be fine, he said.
Mr. Hunt had been diving with his buddy on Saturday, 15 May at Turtle Reef, between DiveTech and Boatswains Beach in West Bay, around 12.30pm when he was stung while trying to catch a large lionfish with nets. I wasnt too concerned if I got stung. Im not saying I was being reckless, but I did go ahead and use my hand to coax the lionfish into the net, he said.
Around 6pm, after several hours of keeping his hand in the water, he realised his finger had begun to blister.
I have enough medical treatment to know that, with burns, when blisters appear, thats a very serious symptom... so at that point, I realised I needed to see a doctor, he said. At the hospital, they told me they had never seen anyone come in with a reaction like this before.
He was given Lidocaine, a local anaesthetic used to relieve burning and pain from skin inflammations, and then the doctor removed the dead skin that was already sloughing off Mr. Huntes finger.
Hospital staff took an ultrasound of his hand to ensure that there was no barb from the fishs spine still embedded in the flesh, but found none.
The doctor told me that the venom had killed so much tissue in my finger, I could lose the remainder of my finger, not just the skin, Mr. Hunt said, adding that if he had not gone to the doctor when he did, he would have lost his finger.
He was given a tetanus shot and antibiotics and told to come back the next day. He returned to the hospital each day for a week until he was given the all clear.
Mr. Hunt said he wanted others to know how serious a lionfish sting can be, now that so many divers are catching them. Theres very little information out there about lionfish stings, he said.
Although he owns a pair of gloves, which can be used to catch lionfish, he was not wearing them at the time.
Bradley Johnson, a research officer at the Department of Environment, said the best advice he could give divers to avoid being stung like Mr. Hunt was Wear gloves!
The puncture-proof Hex-Armor gloves that we wear would have stopped the spine from penetrating the skin and avoided the envenomation. In our licensing talks we also stress that you should get yourself seen by a doctor if youve been stung since everyone reacts differently to the venom.
Using nets with long handles will keep you further away from the fish as well, he said.
He added: This is a very rare case as I havent heard of anyone being stung this badly before; even our international colleagues that have worked on lionfish for years havent seen a case this bad.
Most of the cases we hear about are successfully treated by immersion in non-scalding hot water and dont require additional treatment. The hot water will usually neutralise the venom to the point where you are pain free but that didnt happen in Aarons case.
The Department of Environment is holding lionfish information evenings this month - on 19 June at South Sound Community Centre and on 26 June at John A, Cumber School in West Bay. All information evenings start at 6.30pm.
For more information on the lionfish information evenings, contact 949-8469.
==========================
cayCompass.com :: Lionfish sting nearly costs man his finger
