First Aid - Snakes, Spiders and Ticks (Day 5)

A few days ago our first aid topic was on snake, spider and tick bites.

First we went over the venomous snakes in our area and then went over some other venomous snakes they might encounter in America.

Then we went over some of the basic first aid measures you should take if bitten by a venomous snakes. In the picture they are trying to take off my ring. We also talked about the fact you should

• remain calm
• immobilize the bitten arm/leg/finger and keep as still as possible to keep the poison from spreading
• if possible have the limb lower than your heart
• apply a splint to keep the limb from moving (loosely to allow blood flow)
• remember what the snake looked like
• call 9-1-1

 ED did a little spider craft while the others were working on their math. Then we talked about how to identify the more common spiders to be worried about black widow and brown recluse spiders.

• try to identify the spider that bit you
• clean the spider bite site with soap and water
• apply a cool compress
• elevate the bite
• look for signs of chills, fever, nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain

 Finally we talked about why it is important to check for ticks. They can carry bacteria that cause Lyme Disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. We talked about how sick that can make you.

The kids practiced taking a tick off me (a bean that I taped to my arm). They actually loved that!  We talked about why it's important to remove the head as well.

We used a lot of our first aid tips from the Mayo Clinic First Aid section.