Venomous Thai Sea Creatures and the Danger

Many venomous sea creatures are bottom-dwellers, hiding among coral or resting on or burrowing into sand. If you need to move along the sea bottom, do so in a shuffle, so that you push such creatures out of the way and minimize your risk of stepping directly onto sharp venomous spines, many of which can pierce rubber fins.

Antivenins require specialist medical supervision, do not work for all species and need refrigerated storage, so they are rarely available when required. Most of the venoms are high-molecular-weight proteins that break down under heat. Apply a broad ligature between the limb and the body - remember to release it every 15 minutes. Immerse the limb in hot water (for example the cooling water from an outboard motor) at 50c degree for 2 hours, until the pain stops. Several injections around the wound of local anesthetic, if available, will ease the pain.

Younger or weaker victims may still need CPR. Remember that venoms may still be active in fish that have been dead for 48 hours.

Non venomous cuts

Non venomous underwater cuts and scrapes – especially from coral, barnacles or sharp metal -will usually, if not cleaned out and treated quickly, go septic; absorption of the resulting poisons into the body can cause bigger problems. After every dive, clean and disinfect any wound, no matter how small. Larger wounds will often refuse to heal unless you stay out of seawater for a couple or days.