Re: [Paddlewise] jellyfish stings

> From: "Arthur Hebert" <seacajun_at_gs.net> 

> Urine, vinegar (with the highest percentage of acidity content you can
> find), alcohol,meat tenderizer,ammonia all could be used for the initial
> treatment of jellyfish, certain corals and anemones stings.

Hmmm... might want to check into this.  The URLs below contain excerpts
from "All Stings Considered," covering first aid and medical treatment 
of marine injuries for Hawaii (but many of the marine critters are found 
worldwide... jellyfish, sea urchin, Portuguese man-owar, anemone, sea 
snakes, etc.) and comments that an Australian study reported urine and 
alcohol "caused massive nematocyst discharge in the box jellyfish" as 
well as Portuguese man-of-war.  Studies using vinegar had mixed results 
and meat tenderizer, baking soda showed contradicting results.  (I wonder
if the different results are due to some kind of changes in the life 
cycle?)

Excerpts from "All Stings Considered"

Part 1 (might have to try reloading this a couple of times as I got a
server refusal a couple of times)
http://www.aloha.com/~lifeguards/alsting1.html

Part 2
http://www.aloha.com/~lifeguards/alsting2.html

cheers,

jackie
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