How to Identify an Insect by the Mark of the Sting

Series Summary

The term first aid refers to the immediate care that is provided to an injured or sick person. It is used to stabilize a patient until further medical treatment and assessment can be provided at a hospital or care facility. For most of us, a first-aid kit is used primarily to treat minor medical emergencies, like small cuts or burns. But it is important to keep a first-aid kit stocked with supplies you use regularly as well as those items you might use for a more serious situation until EMS can help. In addition to a first-aid kit, knowing what to do in emergency situations is a key part of treating injuries. Knowledge of how to roll an injured person to safety or help a person having an epileptic seizure may not be included in a first-aid kit, but might just save a life. In this free video series, a firefighter explains and demonstrates how to prevent and treat a number of insect bites, including those from bees, wasps, brown recluse spiders, centipedes, fire ants, hornets and more. Dealing with allergic reactions is also covered, in addition to tips on reducing pain, itching and swelling. With these tips and techniques, the discomfort and harm caused by insect bites will be dramatically reduced.

Video Transcript

"You know, every year most of us are bitten by some type of insect throughout our daily life. Hi, I'm Captain Joe Bruni, and what I'm going to talk about is how to possibly identify what type of insect has bitten you. There's three basic insect bites that will form on the body in different fashions. The first type will be some type of reddening of the skin which would indicate that it's possibly a bee, a wasp, or a hornet sting. Wasp and hornets have the capability of stinging over and over without sticking around once they inject you with their toxin. They will fly off. Bees will normally stay stuck to the site as they're trying to detach their stinger into the skin. However, that site will be red and begin to swell in a localized area. If it's some type of bite that's starting to show pustules, as much as twenty four hours later, it could possibly be bites from the common fire ant. Or if we see bluish, or purplish type of a black and blue type on injury from an insect, it could very possibly be some type of spider bite. So basically it's going to be red and swollen, some type of reddening with pustule, or some type of black and blue area to indicate whether it's going to be hornet, fire ant, or some type of spider. Treat the area with ice at regular intervals to reduce swelling. I'm Captain Joe Bruni. Stay safe, and we'll see you next time."