Bee Stings: The Do's and Dont's

Most people do not know exactly what to do when faced with a bee sting. In most cases, it is fairly simple to deal with a bee sting quickly and painlessly. The number one most important thing is to make sure that the person who was stung is not allergic to bees. If you do not know, ask them before giving them any help. If it is a child, ask their parents if they are around. If the child's parents are not around and the child isn't sure if they are allergic or not, make sure you have 911 ready just in case.

It is not very common for a person to be allergic to a sting, but when it does happen it can be very serious, and even life threatening. When a person is highly allergic it is called Anaphylaxis. 911 should be called right away. If the person has an epi pen perscribed to them, make sure that they admisister it as soon as possible.

Symptoms of a person with Anaphylaxis are:

-A feeling of tightness in your chest

-Throat and mouth swelling

-Wheezing, irregular breathing, hard to swallow

-Red ratch and itching

-Vommiting

-Dirrhea

-Swelling in places besides your mouth

If the person you are caring for is experiencing any of these symptoms EMS should be called immediately. Symptoms can take anywhere from a few seconds to thirty minutes to show up, so make sure that you are watching them carefully even if they look okay at first. If they do start showing signs before EMS gets there, sit the person down in a comfortable position and tell them to steady their breathing as much as posible. If you have oxygen handy, you should set it up.

If the person with the bee sting is not allergic, you can work on taking out the stinger. This should never be pulled with a finger or tweezers. if it is pulled from the end, any extra poison will be pushed into the body, causing further pain. You can take a credit card and apply pressure to the side that is in the flesh, pushing it out gently instead of pulling. Once it is out you can disinfect it and apply a cold compress for pain relief and to help with swelling.

The best thing for a bee sting is to have an actual bee sting remover. These are pretty fun to use because they suck you skin right up into the tube creating the suction that takes the stinger out.

If you have one of these make sure you practice so that you can do it accurately when faced with a situation.