Stung!

“My father told me all about the birds and the bees, the liar - I went steady with a woodpecker till I was twenty-one.”-Bob Hope

While at a farmer’s market today, my wife was stung by a bee. No problem I thought, I’ve written a blog post on stings. But could I remember it? No. All that I remembered was to use a credit card to scrape the stinger out, never squeeze it. Then what?

Fortunately my wife had more presence of mind. She went to a fish mongers stall to get some ice and asked me to look through our first aid kit in the trunk. First I found our kit still wrapped in plastic, it had never been used. So time is lost as I try to remove the shrink wrap. Second, once open, I find it a jumbled mess. The kit is a box with no dividers so the contents have been well tossed and mixed over the years. Third, as I sort through the kit, I find the contents are very old. The gloves are melted and useless. The antibiotic cream has an expiration date of 1997. I wonder if the instant cold pack still works? Fourth, when all else fails, read the manual. The kit contains a very thin first aid book. I found bee stings and it suggested soap, water, and cornstarch! There was no mention of using any of the supplies from the first aid kit.

As you can guess, the first aid kit in our car was a bust. My wife did get ice and it helped but we could see the sting point as a white bump and slowly swelling. She was not having an allergic reaction but the site was painful and sensitive. So my next thought was CVS. Let’s see what a pharmacist suggests. It was a 10 minute drive and a few more minutes waiting our turn; then the pharmacist recommends some product called “Bee Kill” but she doesn’t know where it is in the store. Another worker in the pharmacy suggests “Aisle 7” which we find is very long and packed with products. We never did find “Bee Kill” but did find the insect bite/sting section and bought a spray product containing Diphenhydramine, the active ingredient used in Benadryl. We used to keep Benadryl capsules in the car for stings and bites but couldn’t find one today. Diphenhydramine is a histamine-blocker and reduces allergic reaction and itchiness. Within minutes of being sprayed, the white bump on the arm had disappeared.

Bottom Line

Practice what you preach. There is a reason for yearly renewal of CPR training. Since it’s so very easy to forget first aid training that is rarely used, buy a good first-aid book for the car and house. And it is equally important to be familiar with your supplies and keep them up to date.