Part 3

“NEVER put salt in the water. After the first 15 minutes, the hand or foot must be removed for relief for 1 minute every 10 minutes in the iced water.”

Dr. Stahnke continues: “If the patient is less than 3 years old, if the patient has been stung several times, or if the patient has been stung on the back of the neck, anywhere along the backbone, or on an area of deep flesh like the buttock, thigh, or trunk of the body, or especially on the genital organs, medical assistance should be obtained at once.”

Dr. F. A. Shannon advises that no person with disease involving the circulation of the extremities should use iced water. Morphine is a necessary tool in controlling pain, and barbiturates are useful for control of convulsions.

Several hospitals in southern Arizona keep a supply of scorpion antivenin and, in any case, the patient should be taken to a hospital as quickly as possible. In all cases the first-aid treatment should be applied and maintained until the patient is under the care of a physician.

With adults, in case a physician is not available, the iced-water treatment usually proves sufficient. Generally, after 2 hours of iced-water use, there is no longer any danger, but should symptoms reappear, treatment should be resumed.

Scorpion antivenin for stings of Centruroides sculpturatus and C. gertschi is available at the Poisonous Animals Research Laboratory, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona. The recommended method of treatment is the “L-C” method. The L stands for ligature and C for cryotherapy (tourniquet and ice pack treatment).

Treatment is as follows: “As soon as possible (after the sting has been received) inject intramuscularly or subcutaneously, 5 to 10 cc. of natural serum or 3 cc. of the concentrated. In serious cases, inject intravenously.” No immediate untoward results have been noted, but some cases of skin irritation develop later.

In cases of scorpion poisoning when antivenin is not available, the following treatment is recommended:

“Use morphine with extreme caution. It has not been found effective in the usual doses. Barbiturates are more effective and less dangerous. Bromides in large doses are apparently of value. In those cases characterized by severe pulmonary edema (accumulation of fluid in the lungs) atropine is indicated along with general supportive measures. Compresses, using a fairly concentrated ammonium hydroxide solution, have been found helpful if applied within a few moments. If applied for the first time about 10 minutes after the sting, no apparent benefit is attained.”

Where scorpions live

Scorpions normally remain in hiding during the day, coming out in search of insects at night. The deadly species are commonly found under bark on old stumps, in lumber piles, or in firewood piled in dark corners. It is not unusual to find them in basements or in linen closets. Adults may find an unpleasant surprise in a shoe or a piece of clothing taken from a closet or dresser drawer. Legs of cribs or children’s beds may be placed in cans containing kerosene or in wide-mouthed jars.

Moral: Keep your garage, basement, and premises in general, clean, tidy, and free from insects on which scorpions feed. Screen children’s cribs, and pull the sheets clear back before putting the youngsters to bed. Shake out your shoes before putting them on, and inspect sheets, blankets, or clothing which have been in closets or drawers.

Black widow spider (Lactrodectus mactans)

Although spiders in general produce venom with which to paralyze their prey, only a very few have fangs of sufficient length or power to penetrate human skin, or venom of sufficient quantity or potency to affect human health.

There are two poisons present in spider venom: a toxin which cause local symptoms, and a toxalbumin producing general symptoms. In those spiders whose bites produce systematic disturbances it is believed that the latter poison predominates.

Where black widows live

Black widows spin their webs in crevices between rocks, under logs or overhanging banks, in abandoned rodent holes, and in rock and wood piles. Indoors they are most frequently encountered in dark corners of garages, basements, and stables.

A favorite and especially dangerous location in which a black widow establishes her home is beneath the seat of a pit toilet. Such a location is ideal for the spider because it is dark, is not usually disturbed, and insects, especially flies, upon which the spiders feed, are abundant. Humans using the toilet, unaware of the presence of the spider, arouse her by breaking or agitating her web, and offer especially tender and susceptible portions of their anatomies for her bite.

Pit toilets in warm climates should always be built with hinged seats which should be raised and inspected frequently. As a further precaution, the underside of the seats should be treated with creosote, an effective repellent.

Although the majority of people now recognize the black widow, some do not, hence they kill all dark-colored spiders on general principles. This is neither necessary nor desirable.

The female black widow is a medium-sized, glossy black, solitary spider with a globular abdomen spectacularly marked on the underside with a bright red spot roughly the shape of an hourglass. The normal position of the spider is hanging upside down in her web so that the “hourglass” is plainly visible if she is below the level of the eye. Her overall length is 1 to 1¼ inches.

The males are much smaller and, like the immature females, are grey in color and variously striped and spotted.

Adult females spin egg cocoons during the warm season; each cocoon contains approximately 300 to 500 eggs which hatch in about 30 days. As many as nine broods per year have been recorded. The young grow fast but do not mature until the following spring or summer.

Black widow bites

Although black widows ferociously pounce upon insects or other spiders much larger than themselves which become entangled in their webs, they are by nature retiring and bite humans only when restrained from escape by contact with the body of man.

The fangs, which are about one-fiftieth of an inch in length, serve to inject from two large glands the venom which is reported to be much more virulent per unit than that of the rattlesnake.

There is some pain and swelling at the site of the bite. The pain spreads throughout the body, centering at the extremities, which become cramped, and over the abdomen, where the muscles become rigid. There is nausea and vomiting, difficulty in breathing, dizziness, ringing in the ears, and headache. Blood pressure is raised, eye pupils are dilated and the reflexes are overactive. Medical records, according to Bogen, show that “despite its severe symptoms, arachnidism (poisoning by spider, tick, or scorpion) is, in the majority of cases, a self-limiting condition, and generally clears up spontaneously within a few days,” although cases of death resulting from black widow bites are on record.

Treatment of black widow bites