Capt. Troy Posted August 16, 2019 Report Share Posted August 16, 2019 Anclote Key Tuesday 37 mile off results. Long time charter client of 15 years now best friend got poked releasing a fish Tuesday and ended up in the ER this morning at 4:30 am. He was with me at the boat yesterday and said his finger was a little stiff and I looked at it and it looked just like mine do after a day on the water with just a little redness. Between then and this AM the pain became unbearable and he is now on heavy antibiotics and will be kept for observation for the next 2 days. They think they got it in time. This at no Joke fellas and this guy has caught and been poked and cut by hundreds of fish with me over the years. The doctors told him had he waited any longer he probably would have lost the finger. Immediate treatment is the key! This is the 3rd case of flesh eating bacteria around Central Florida west coast in several weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mangroovin Posted August 16, 2019 Report Share Posted August 16, 2019 Wow close call! See a lot of people handle fish. I used to think nothing of it but any more I try not to handle em at all if possible. Most fish have some kind of sharp gill or spine on em somewhere that will get ya. Probably better on the fish not to handle them anyway. Glad he caught it in time.👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt. Troy Posted August 16, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2019 Vibrio vulnificus infections are rare, according to Florida Health Department. However, cases have been gradually rising since 2008, when there were 16 reported incidents, with 46 in 2013, and 50 in 2017. Last year, 42 cases were identified, leading to nine deaths. This year, 10 cases have been reported so far, with no deaths resulting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt. Troy Posted August 16, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2019 1 hour ago, Mangroovin said: Wow close call! See a lot of people handle fish. I used to think nothing of it but any more I try not to handle em at all if possible. Most fish have some kind of sharp gill or spine on em somewhere that will get ya. Probably better on the fish not to handle them anyway. Glad he caught it in time.👍 You don't have to touch the fish just the hook that has been in the water. Warning Graphic. https://www.foxnews.com/health/florida-fisherman-recovering-flesh-eating-bacteria-hook Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geeviam Posted August 16, 2019 Report Share Posted August 16, 2019 Capt. Troy, glad your friend was treated in time. Did you say this happened 37 miles offshore in cleaner blue water? Or did it happen on inshore waters near land? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smilemaker Posted August 16, 2019 Report Share Posted August 16, 2019 It is advisable to keep a small bottle of bleach as part of first aid kit. Any nick cut or abrasion pour bleach over cut liberally. Glad he is on the way to recovery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knotthereelworld Posted August 16, 2019 Report Share Posted August 16, 2019 Had this happen to me 4 years ago in NC. Super hot day, inshore fishing for redfish. I got some sort of nick on my hand at the base of my thumb that turned into a red blister and stiffened my thumb up within hours. Called an ER physician I knew and sent him a photo. He said to be cautious of it and if the redness spread, to go to the ER. Go get late lunch with the girl I was dating at the time and then we proceed to drive six hours back to Virginia. Get there and take off my shirt in my house and the red line was from my thumb all the way up my arm to the top of my shoulder. Off to the ER we went. Never saw a doctor, the nurses gave me a bunch of meds and told me to call back in the morning. Redness was totally gone in the AM. The nurses said they didn't know what it was, my guess is the flesh eating bacteria or something similar. I now carry hydrogen peroxide on my boat and kayaks and any cuts get a heavy dose of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smilemaker Posted August 16, 2019 Report Share Posted August 16, 2019 Knotthereelworld , talk with your er friend and he will probably tell you to ditch the peroxide and go to bleach if you want to kill bugs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdemott Posted August 17, 2019 Report Share Posted August 17, 2019 3 hours ago, smilemaker said: Knotthereelworld , talk with your er friend and he will probably tell you to ditch the peroxide and go to bleach if you want to kill bugs. I used to carry a container of bleach solution when I was fishing offshore. Would get stuck by hooks while bait fishing and would pour it over the small scrapes. If I didn't get any scrapes I would just pour it on the fish blood at the end of the trip. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted August 17, 2019 Report Share Posted August 17, 2019 Well said TROY...... When I used to yellow tail, as you know, at the end of the day, your hands look like a pin cushion...swollen and bleeding...I have dodged the bullet.... Used to clean them with some bleach when we were cleaning the boat... dc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt. Troy Posted August 17, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2019 20 hours ago, geeviam said: Capt. Troy, glad your friend was treated in time. Did you say this happened 37 miles offshore in cleaner blue water? Or did it happen on inshore waters near land? He was unhooking a Red Snapper and the circle hook turned and poked him about 1/8 inch deep. I had just fired up the radar to look at some storms and it was right at noon Tuesday and we were 37 miles due west of Tarpon Springs. Water was really clear looking and blue. Met him at the boat the following day and he showed me the poke and said it was a little sore. I called him a sissy and told him I hope your finger falls off. Said I have seen worse ant bites.😀 Mid night Thursday night it began to give him trouble and within 2 hours he was in extreme pain and getting worse by the minute. ER by 4 am Friday morning and straight to IV with heavy antibiotics as soon as the doctor learned it was a fishing injury. "They are seeing more of this than they are letting on IMHO" He is still in the hospital and expected to be released tomorrow with heavy scripts to take home. Good news is he is expected not to have any permanent damage. Gonna run up and see him in a few and bring him some fishing magazines.👹 Don't play with this stuff, It ain't the old infection from fishing injuries were used to. It is aggressive and rapid once it takes hold. It can kill you in as little as 72 hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCFD rtrd. Posted August 23, 2019 Report Share Posted August 23, 2019 Wow, remember when fishing was fun? Didn't have to worry about loosing a limb or dying because of a little poke or scrape. I read an article about this flesh eating stuff and they recommended flushing the area with bleach. They said the Hydrogen Peroxide would not kill this particular bacteria. Commercial fisherman get a lot of small injuries while on the job and they have used bleach for years, probable because it was cheap and readily available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt. Troy Posted September 14, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2019 UpDate The wound is closed finally. They ended up coring it out with something that looked like a uni-bit drill. He had to unpack and repack the hole twice a day. All said and done 5 days in the hospital, several return visits and still on antibiotics. No permanent damage to his trigger finger. 7k out of pocket after deductibles and what not. Ouch! Just when you thought only your finger hurt. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geeviam Posted September 14, 2019 Report Share Posted September 14, 2019 39 minutes ago, Capt. Troy said: UpDate The wound is closed finally. They ended up coring it out with something that looked like a uni-bit drill. He had to unpack and repack the hole twice a day. All said and done 5 days in the hospital, several return visits and still on antibiotics. No permanent damage to his trigger finger. 7k out of pocket after deductibles and what not. Ouch! Just when you thought only your finger hurt. Poor fella. Glad to hear he's almost out of the woods. What an ordeal!! Scary!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dabear Posted September 14, 2019 Report Share Posted September 14, 2019 I have read about this and asked several people about this in the medical field . If you do get a cut having some clean water and antimicrobial soap to clean the area and applying a anti bacterial ointment like Polysporin may help prevent a infection. Keep a close eye on spot look for swelling or discoloration or if area is warm . warmer waters have a higher concentration of bacteria consuming raw or under cooked fish and exposing a wound to salt or brackish waters are some ways you could get this flesh eating bacteria infection Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt. Troy Posted September 15, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2019 I think the ticket here for concern is the fact the wound was a puncture from a hook point. Puncture wounds are hard to treat as they are not really cuts or open wounds you can clean. Kinda like a snake bite! The bad stuff is injected. So be especially cautious of fish fins and hook points. By all means don't wait if you even think you have an issue. Time is not on your side with this stuff. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishmanjj Posted September 15, 2019 Report Share Posted September 15, 2019 One of the guides here out of Savannah a few years ago was taking the hook from a small blackips mouth on beachside when the shark jerked and he ended up with a cut and the hook in his forearm. Nothing serious, cut leader and released shark, then he cut shank of hook and took the hook out. Once again, not serious, not deep, .....water temp around 88F . Two days later his forearm is very red and very sore. The next day doctors office and prescription meds.....three days later in hospital with IV antibiotics. The muscle tissue had to be cut like filleting a flank steak for several days....in hospital two weeks. For the next three months physical therapy and skin grafts.....he’s now ok....over $52,000 later and still fighting with insurance and hospital over the bills. Not counting the money he lost by not being able to fish for about 4 months total. The ocean is certainly not as clean as Mother Nature intended, in fact....people have really peed Mother Nature off with dumping chemicals in ocean, drawing freshwater swamps into oceans, dumping trash into oceans....and we...the ones that try to keep her clean and maintain what beauty she beholds are probably only 10% of population. Keep a first aid kit in your boat, if you get stuck or finned....clean it up with bottles water and some good antiseptic soap and then some bacterial ointment and wrap water in clean bandage. You can’t be too save anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunstone Posted September 15, 2019 Report Share Posted September 15, 2019 When ever I get a cut, fin or hook puncture I always *** out the wound for several minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROZEN Posted September 15, 2019 Report Share Posted September 15, 2019 On 9/14/2019 at 12:59 PM, dabear said: I have read about this and asked several people about this in the medical field . If you do get a cut having some clean water and antimicrobial soap to clean the area and applying a anti bacterial ointment like Polysporin may help prevent a infection. Keep a close eye on spot look for swelling or discoloration or if area is warm . warmer waters have a higher concentration of bacteria consuming raw or under cooked fish and exposing a wound to salt or brackish waters are some ways you could get this flesh eating bacteria infection I’ve been asking doctors I visit about what to carry on the boat, and what to do when you have a bleeder. There’s lots of conflicting advice on the internet. I’m told that there’s two forms of “flesh eating” like infections. Debar, above, is correct according to the “fishing docs” I’ve talked to. Flush with clean fresh water, make it bleed, use the soap( Betadine Surgical 10% is what I now carry), and polysporin. That covers the bacteria form. The viral form is not first aid treatable and all you can do is do the treatment above ( although it won’t touch the virus) closely watch and pray and get to a good ER if you show symptoms. Heat and discoloration is what you watch for, they say. There are some anti virus drugs available, but not many, and expensive. If you contract the virus, your in real deep s**t. I'm not a doctor or medical person. I dread the day a grandchild of mine steps on a shell and cuts herself an hour away from the dock. Apparently, it’s pretty fast acting. I wish someone would publish a first aid best practices for fishermen for this. Maybe we could all get back to enjoying the water. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Posted September 16, 2019 Report Share Posted September 16, 2019 There has to be bad luck involved for those that get the big infections or flesh-eating disease.. They have been around for decades. I cannot count the cuts, stabs, hooks and fins I have taken in 40 years of diving and fishing on the East Coast & Bahamas.. Raising a son fishing, the hundreds of Mangrove fins at release, the Pinfish all got me twice, the lobster antenna scratches.. I have been blessed, and lucky to have the good times, without Betadyne and Polysporin on each poke. It pays to be prepared and safe, folks.. and not rely on luck. Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatsdoctor Posted September 18, 2019 Report Share Posted September 18, 2019 It usually involves someone immunocompromised or with liver disease. Ciprofloxacin is the antibiotic of choice if you are not allergic to it's class. If you are diabetic or have any other issues like mentioned, it would not be a bad idea to carry some, to start as soon as you feel it getting infected, while you seek medical attention. Time is of the essence in these cases. I had a captain friend of mine that died within 48 hours despite medical attention Ask your Doctor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Lappy Posted September 18, 2019 Report Share Posted September 18, 2019 Is this an offshore or inshore issue? Or both? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCFD rtrd. Posted September 20, 2019 Report Share Posted September 20, 2019 Just a guess, but I'd think inshore would be more likely. There are more pollutants inshore and the water is warmer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt. Troy Posted September 22, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2019 On 9/20/2019 at 12:28 PM, SCFD rtrd. said: Just a guess, but I'd think inshore would be more likely. There are more pollutants inshore and the water is warmer. Read my first post. We were 37 miles offshore when he stuck himself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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