How cleaning hull=4 days in hospital

[Traveler 45C]

Glad to hear your doing better.

Last weekend the kids took some barnacle hits. I cleaned them with peroxide, no problems. I dove the boat and wiped out A LOT of growth off my running gear. Luckily I didn't get cut. But I think I'll wear tougher gloves from now on...

[jim rosenthal]

Most of my medical career has been spent around maritime areas. I learned early on (while working in Chincoteague Is. during the summer) that skin injuries sustained in marine locations are VERY prone to infections with resistant and unusual bacteria which are very hard to treat. Some patients die from these, or require amputation of gangrenous limbs.

Some precautions: wear gloves. Treat all cuts as infected; wash thoroughly with soap and water and dilute bleach. Peroxide kills more of your tissue than it does germs. If you want to use something of that kind, use DILUTED Betadine scrub solution and a soft sponge. Even if you think the wound is clean, see a doctor locally if you can who is familiar with marine infections. An ER physician is best.

If the wound is not healing rapidly, don't delay. Get to a hospital ESPECIALLY if you are showing signs of systemic infection such as fever, headache, feeling sick all over, nausea/vomiting. Even if the wound doesn't look bad, it may be poisoning you through your bloodstream.

Remember; the bugs outnumber us, and they adapt a lot faster than we do. And yes, coastal areas are the dirtiest, but the open ocean water contains plenty of germs as well, and wounds from fresh-caught fish often get infected as well.

The repeated blood draws were blood cultures, by the way- a necessity when you are treating a septic patient who has a foreign object in the bloodstream. Like a valve, for example.

[krush]

Treat all cuts as infected; wash thoroughly with soap and water and dilute bleach. Peroxide kills more of your tissue than it does germs. If you want to use something of that kind, use DILUTED Betadine scrub solution and a soft sponge.

What about alcohol? Actually, coming from a physician, what is the single best thing to clean the cuts with and subsequent treatment.

I never knew there were such crazy bugs in the sea water. Makes me want to stay in my "dirty" Potomac river--never had a cut infected here on anybody.

[jim rosenthal]

The best thing for cleaning cuts is soap and water. Lots of it. Like fifteen minutes worth. Studies published in emergency medicine journals have confirmed what we all suspected- tap water with soap and lengthy cleaning works as well as anything else. It's the amount of time put into it that really makes the difference. Strong antiseptics like peroxide and betadine do kill germs, but they also kill tissue. Mechanical cleansing solutions like ShurClens work well, too, but they are expensive and you usually don't see them in stores- they are bought by hospitals. What we use in the OR for dirty wounds is sterile saline (which probably isn't necessary but when you are all scrubbed up you have to use sterile solutions) and diluted betadine, or ShurClens. No one uses peroxide in the OR- I've never seen it. We do not use alcohol. The best thing is lots of clean water, soap, and lots of gentle scrubbing, and picking all the dirt out. Bottled or tap water is fine. Frequently we use pressure irrigation with a WaterPik or syringes, etc.

[Jaxfishgyd]

As long as I'm admitting about "stuff", back in the late 90's, I took a Bertram to the Abacos for the owner. The following year we both went back and took the boat fishing.... During the trip, I drank a few swallows of the water in the tank...Why? Still cant answer that..
Anyway, 6 weeks later I started getting sick, lots of stomach problems and having to RUN to the bathroom.
I ended up in the (yup!) hospital for 8 days with "gelardia" "Gerlardia" or how ever you spell it. Anyway, I had animals in my tummy.
After I went home, I still had to have the IV in me for another 9 days so had to wheel the machine where ever I went in the house. A visiting nurse came out every day to change the bag and every few days change the location of the needle..
Maybe I need to reconsider this boating thing............... It's not healthy

[MikeP]

Dr Jim

How about the mixture of 1/3 each of Alcohol, Peroxide, and white vinegar that a lot of divers put in their ears after a dive? I have seen some divers use it immediately after getting out of the water, putting several drops in each ear, leaving it for a few seconds and then doing the same with the other ear.
Other folks wait till later, then put in the mixture and leave it for 3-5 minutes in each ear.

Seems like it would exterminate anything in your ear that used to live in salt water. We do it because experienced divers said it was a good thing to do! Good Idea? Bad Idea? "Won't help but can't hurt" Idea?