Emergency services on high alert for busy summer of bites and stings

IT’S not just bites from snakes and spiders we need to be wary of this summer, emergency services warn after a Gold Coast teen was stung by a scorpion fish.

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EMERGENCY services are on high alert for bites and stings from deadly and unusual animals after a 13-year-old boy was rushed to hospital with five spines in his foot from a scorpion fish.

Ahead of the official start of summer tomorrow, paramedics have urged residents not to be complacent.

Murwillumbah teenager Joel Mudge was treated in Tweed Heads Hospital last Sunday after he stood on a bullrout, a member of the scorpion fish family, while swimming with his younger cousins in the Bilambil Creek.

His grandmother Lynette Brand said while she had warned the children about snakes it seemed there were other animals that people were forgetting.

“I only said to the kids on the Friday night to be really careful because it is supposed to be a really bad season for snakes,” she said.

“You don’t think about the bullrout but it’s hot and everyone goes in the water.

“They have always been around ... but I was just amazed at how many people don’t know what you would do if you were to step on one.”

Bullrout are commonly found in upper tidal reaches and fresh waters of New South Wales and Queensland where they camouflage themselves in the sheltered areas.

“When they strike an obstacle they tend to congregate in those places which is often the places that tend to be popular for swimming,” Queensland Museum ichthyologist Jeff Johnson said.

Ms Brand said Joel had returned home and was resting his swollen foot.

“The pain is considered one of the most intense pains that you can receive from something like this,” she said.

“You can see the spine indentations in his foot from it.”

Five Queenslanders were treated for bites from snakes, spiders and dogs over the weekend.

Queensland Ambulance Service Gold Coast Inspector Stephen Burns said early weather predictions for a hot summer would keep paramedics on their toes.

“It could very well be that it will be a busy year for emergency services,” he said.

Mr Burns said snakes and bull sharks were the biggest problem for the Gold Coast.

“There have been a lot of snakes noticed particularly in the Gold Coast Hinterland,” he said.

Meanwhile, Nobby Beach was closed yesterday afternoon while surf lifesavers searched the water following reports of a shark sighting from a kitesurfer at 4.30pm.

Originally published as Emergency services on high alert for busy summer of bites and stings