Reefing injuries

P

peterdavies

New member
Hi guys

I'm looking into injuries sustained when messing around with our tanks, and would really appreciate if some of you could fill in my survey which takes approx 3 minutes, its very quick, and will give us some interesting information about how often people get injured when keeping marine aquaria.

Im a trainee orthopaedic surgeon and this project will really help me, and hopefully give the people of RC some entertainment.

Im looking to hear of injuries that warranted medical attention, but please answer it even if you have no injuries to report (it will take you approx 1 minute if you do this - about as long as you spend reading a single thread in the classifieds!).

Ill be hoping to write this up in the BMJ or similar journal and will be mentioning RC should I get enough data for this to be feasible.
 
Does getting all cut up from eggcrate EVERYTIME you touch it count? I've lost blood to that damn stuff more than once... Still have a small scar on my arm from 2months ago >_<
 
Ha thanks guys, occasionally people can't fill it in, perhaps doesn't work on some browsers, on the iPad it doesn't work well.

Anyone else willing? Currently on around 70 responses but most from other forums. Would really appreciate some help from you guys on here.

Pete
 
Ha I think most people's wallets get critically injured by this hobby ! On 92 responses, thanks for your contributions. Any more out there? It really does only take a matter of minutes it's minimal faffing
 
Does scraping yourself up with eggcrate every time you touch it count? 3 months later my arm is still has marks on it!
 
I have cuts everytime I move rocks around. They are usually 2-3 inch long minute cuts. Not sure if they are from scraping the rocks or if my tangs hate me.
 
Glad you got your responses, just one extra this is a friends story
(friend) When we tore down the 210g, there was a lot of moving rocks around. Mike got a couple very minor cuts on his hands on a Saturday afternoon, the kind of stuff we all have done a thousand times in this hobby. But then the next day, his hands were back in the water and digging through some VERY dirty sand, like 8 or 9 years worth of fish poop, looking for nassarius snails. He ended up getting the cut infected. By Sunday evening, his thumb (where the cuts were) was looking red, inflamed, and swollen. We went out to dinner talking about whether he should go to the dr. Monday or could it wait til he had an appointment anyway on Wednesday...

Over the 45 minutes while we were out having dinner, the red streak started climbing up his arm and almost reached his armpit! Long story short, we took him to the med clinic right away and he ended up in the hospital with some very serious blood infection for FIVE DAYS! It was really scary how quickly it went from nothing at all to life-threatening
 
your survey won't let me input anything either, so feel free to add from this post.

Three times I've been injured due to working on/around a marine tank.

The first time was in the early 1990's. A powerhead had stopped working, so I took it out, cleaned it up, and put it back in the tank. Plugged it in and it still didn't work, so I reached in to give it a good shake. And found myself about 10 feet away sitting.leaning against the opposite wall where it had thrown me after shocking me worse than I ever imagined possible and living through it. Didn't go to the ER for that one - I worked there and, well, didn't want to hear the rash of crap they were all gonna give me.

Number 2 was a Lion Fish jab in my hand about 1994. It really wasn't too bad, but I went to see my coworkers anyway. Yes, they all laughed at me as I knew they would. Treated and released same evening none the worse for wear.

Number three I have pictures for. It was Easter weekend 2013. I was moving my tank to another room so carpet could be installed. It was filled with Zoanthids and Palythoas, and in the course of getting it ready to move, rubbed my arm against them off and on for about 1/2 hour. I noticed a feeling like a mild sunburn, and the skin turned light red. I turned to my wife, also a RN, and said "If I collapse and stop breathing, call 911 and tell them it's due to exposure to Palytoxin" She, being the loving wife that she is, gave me a blank stare until I explained the issue. I washed my arm well, and we went to dinner. The pain increased somewhat, but was still ok. Went to bed like any other night. Woke up Easter morning to excruciating pain and large blisters. Decided it was time to go the the Urgent Care where, when I showed them my arm, I was moved to an exam room immediately. The Doctor had no idea what to do, so he called Poison Control (on speaker phone). Their first question was "Is the patient still alive???" High dose steroids, pain pills, and a week off work (I now work in an Electrophysiology Lab,m scrubbing for implants wasn't really an option. I still have the scars to remind me.

This was taken 1 week post exposure, so it actually looks better here than it did at first.

 
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