Safety Brief - Tick Protection

Site-Ops

Below is a safety promo from our HSE dept. Might be worth a read particularly for this time of year given our sporting location -

While ticks are present year around, it’s the warm days of spring that bring them out looking for their first full meal. The US Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine offers these tick protection tips:


Wear the proper clothing:
Long pants tucked into boots or socks
Long sleeves
Shirt tucked into pants
Light-colored clothing makes it easier to spot ticks

Use tick repellents:
(unless sensitive or allergic to the ingredients)
If possible, treat clothing in advance with permethrin repellent. When ticks crawl onto the treated fabric, they absorb a tiny amount of permethrin, making them too sick to bite you. Follow application directions on the repellent label.
Apply DEET repellent to skin that is not covered by clothing. Follow application directions on the label. Products containing DEET in concentrations greater than 50% are no more effective than lesser concentrations.

Check for ticks routinely:
Use the buddy system to check each other for ticks;
When you go indoors, remove your clothes and take a shower, checking your skin carefully;
Placing your clothes in a hot dryer for 20-30 minutes will ensure that any ticks you failed to notice will be killed;
Check children and pets carefully.

Remove attached ticks immediately:
Grasp the tick’s mouthparts as close to the skin as possible with fine-tipped tweezers; pull back slowly and steadily with firm force until the barbed mouthparts can be eased out of the skin. Be patient. Tugging to hard can remove the body but leave the mouthparts in the skin.
DO NOT SQUEEZE the body of the tick or apply any substance, including petroleum jelly, finger nail polish, finger nail polish remover, repellents, pesticides, or a lighted match to the tick, while it is attached. These materials or methods are either ineffective, or worse, might force more infective fluid into the bite site.
After removal, wash the bite site and apply an antiseptic.
Save the tick for future identification should you develop disease symptoms: Place it in a clean, dry jar (or other sturdy container) and keep it in the freezer. You may discard the tick after about a month, as tick-borne diseases generally display symptoms within this period.

If you develop flu-like illness or rashes, or otherwise feel sick after the tick bite, seek medical attention immediately. If possible, take the tick with you. Prompt diagnosis and treatment will likely speed your recovery and prevent lingering symptoms.

You are encouraged to print this brief and discuss its content as part of your safety minute in meetings throughout the coming week

kdouglas

Interesting stuff, never really thought about ticks before.

Site-Ops

Only thought about it myself after the brief came out here..... It was so dry last Wednesday evening after the HRTA meeting I came home and dumped my Combats etc into the wardrobe because they were cleaner than when they went out..... I have to get home now and dump them quickly into the dryer.....

Stercus Accidit

The ticks will have to go home and check for me biting them, little sh1ts.

Food for thought, and ticks.

Time to buy proper boots and tick repellent then, and i love rolling in the grass in skirmishes

Gatling

SITE-OPS Recon's safety officer

sci-ops

Gatling wrote: »

SITE-OPS Recon's safety officer

And all round Agony Aunt:rolleyes:

Site-Ops

Gatling wrote: »

SITE-OPS Recon's safety officer

Jeez.... Are you sure about that? I have been called a stone in the past......

weeder

so is it sore enough to feel when these yokes bite you?

going by this one yes



but going by this no



and going by this yes

Site-Ops

The second one is how they look when they first attach..... the first photo is how they look when they suck your blood out..... They are a ******* to get off the skin normally have to burn them off with a lighter.

weeder

Site-Ops wrote: »

The second one is how they look when they first attach..... the first photo is how they look when they suck your blood out..... They are a ******* to get off the skin normally have to burn them off with a lighter.

DO NOT SQUEEZE the body of the tick or apply any substance, including petroleum jelly, finger nail polish, finger nail polish remover, repellents, pesticides, or a lighted match to the tick

lol :P

Evolute

Honestly thought this was a joke at first then i read it thanks for making me worried now ya ****er:p:p

weeder

you and me both

DevilsBreath

Managed to get one of these litttle buggers in the arm pit before. Ended up using a knife to pop him of.

TheFlatulator

use vodka, my dog used to get cover in them and we would soak a bit of cotton wool in vodka and put it on the tick and it would just drop off from the alcohol...

Gizmodeon

DevilsBreath wrote: »

Managed to get one of these litttle buggers in the arm pit before. Ended up using a knife to pop him of.

GAH!
thats nasty...:(

peter-pantslez

got one dnagerously close to the nut sack last summer..........thank god the twizzers worked cause there was no way i was burning it off!!!!!!!:eek:

johnboyire

its great having methods to remove ticks from airsoft especially when they dont take their hits some might like the vodka though...

Site-Ops

weeder wrote: »

lol :P

A lighter is ok but not a match

Gran Hermano

It's not the bite from the ticks you need to fear but
Lyme disease

For tick removal as already mentioned avoid pulling it out as you'll
likely leave the head/jaws stuck in. Best bet is a drop of alcohol/petrol.

Mrs MaxForce

this is one of the first things going up on our new notice board :eek:
thanks for info site -ops

CrazyRabbit

Gran Hermano wrote: »

It's not the bite from the ticks you need to fear but
Lyme disease

For tick removal as already mentioned avoid pulling it out as you'll
likely leave the head/jaws stuck in. Best bet is a drop of alcohol/petrol.

So, we have a valid reason to bring alcohol to skirmish sites now....cool

Yeah, I'm just kidding....

ED E

Gran Hermano wrote: »

It's not the bite from the ticks you need to fear but
Lyme disease

For tick removal as already mentioned avoid pulling it out as you'll
likely leave the head/jaws stuck in. Best bet is a drop of alcohol/petrol.

"How common is Lyme disease in Ireland? Lyme disease is not a notifiable infectious disease in Ireland and so a true figure is not known but a number of cases are diagnosed each year. In the UK, about 300 laboratory-confirmed cases are reported annually; however the true figure could be between 1000 and 2000 cases annually. In the US, there are about 15,000-20,000 cases each year."

:cool:

Rhinocharge

Ticks are an out-doors person(s) bane, but they're a fact of life. But they're normally found around animals. Red deer hunters come across it regularly. Little bit of rubbing alcohol or surgical spirits & you'll be right as rain. Mind you we all carry emergency 1st aid kits don't we!!

Gran Hermano

Lethal_Bullet wrote: »

"How common is Lyme disease in Ireland? Lyme disease is not a notifiable infectious disease in Ireland and so a true figure is not known but a number of cases are diagnosed each year. In the UK, about 300 laboratory-confirmed cases are reported annually; however the true figure could be between 1000 and 2000 cases annually. In the US, there are about 15,000-20,000 cases each year."

:cool:

As doctors are not compelled to report infections it is impossible to say
how many incidents there are, looking at the figures from the UK
and the relative size of Ireland and our less urbanised country I'd be
surprised if it's less than 100 cases here a year.

It's a pretty nasty infection and requires serious antibiotics. I know
I don't want to be one of those who do get it.

Masada

ive never even seen them before,., it wouldnt be on my priority list for safety really, id probably be a lot more likely to fall from a tree and break my arse bone than get bitten by one of thems.,

Alvin T. Grey

vtec wrote: »

ive never even seen them before,., it wouldnt be on my priority list for safety really, id probably be a lot more likely to fall from a tree and break my arse bone than get bitten by one of thems.,

So risking brain damage is a fear for you.......:D

TheDoc

im still not sure if this post is serious?

id be more worried of a fecking spider crawling on me then a tick

weeder

possibly getting someone to shoot it off you would be the easiest way to get it off:pac:

Miscreant

I have never seen one of these little blighters anywhere and I have hiked the length and breadth of the country. I have even gone skirmishing before at this time of the year and never seen one on me or anyone else.
Perhaps the chances are slim and for that you would have to be rolling around on the ground a lot to pick them up (I'm not particularly prone to doing that) or like Rhino Charge said be around animals but I would rather not take any chances. Camo tucked into boots?...... Yes Sir. Carry some rubbing alcohol or have it in the car just in case?...... Definately.

Real Steyr Dave

weeder wrote: »

so is it sore enough to feel when these yokes bite you?

going by this one yes



but going by this no



and going by this yes

There goes my lunch....I'm not sure if I'd be level headed enough in real life to keep the fecker that bit me. I'm thinking tweezers, ligher and screaming "Burn you muthafunka!!!" quite loudly :mad:

ASI Casper

[DM]-TheDOC- wrote: »

im still not sure if this post is serious?

id be more worried of a fecking spider crawling on me then a tick

It most certainly is a serious post. The tick bite in itself is nothing to worry about. It's the fact that, as mentioned above, they sometimes carry disease which is the cause for concern. Lymes Disease & Babesiosis.
Lymes Disease is particulary nasty as it's a systemic disease which means it can affect various parts of the body to differing degrees. It can be hard to diagnose due to the fact that many people don't make the connection between being bitten and becoming ill weeks or even months later. Especially as some people never even realise they've been bitten! You don't feel a tick as it bites you! And a doctor is even less likely to make the connection due to the symptoms being systemic and similar to many other common ailments. Plus it's not something doctors see very often or are commonly aware of. So unless you know you were bitten and tell your doctor, he's likely going to misdiagnose it!
It can be hard to treat too due to apparently being fairly resistant to antibiotics which means it can take several courses of treatment.

vtec wrote: »

ive never even seen them before,., it wouldnt be on my priority list for safety really, id probably be a lot more likely to fall from a tree and break my arse bone than get bitten by one of thems.,

Miscreant wrote: »

I have never seen one of these little blighters anywhere and I have hiked the length and breadth of the country. I have even gone skirmishing before at this time of the year and never seen one on me or anyone else.
Perhaps the chances are slim and for that you would have to be rolling around on the ground a lot to pick them up (I'm not particularly prone to doing that) or like Rhino Charge said be around animals but I would rather not take any chances. Camo tucked into boots?...... Yes Sir. Carry some rubbing alcohol or have it in the car just in case?...... Definately.

People don't usually see fleas or bed bugs either, but they soon notice the bites and itching.
The chances of getting them are indeed relatively slim, but people do get them. I know several airsofters who have picked up these unwelcome visitors.
They're much more common in the summer, though, they prefer shaded areas. And the chances of picking them up are really going to depend on where you play and your style of play. Anywhere with deer or sheep about is more likely to have them. Anywhere with lots of long grass & ferns ( bracken ) about means you're more likely to pick them up, although, you can of course pick them up off the ground and off branches and things too.
And if you're the sort of player that likes to sneak about in the bushes or dive into places or are a sniper lying in long grass for ages, then obviously you're much more likely to pick them up.

T-shirts = more likely to pick them up obviously.
Mandarin collar shirts with sleeves buttoned closed and gloves on = much less likely to pick them up.
Hats, especially boonies = less likely to pick them up.
Trousers with 'built-in' gaitors = much less likely to pick them up.
Trousers tucked into boots = less likely to pick them up.
Stripping naked, smearing yourself with deer turds and rolling around naked in long grass = much more likely to pick them up. But also likely to get picked up by police.

Skin-tight 'sweat-wicking' type underlayers also make it difficult for them to find somewhere to bite as they can't get in under your clothing.

Common sense really.

Does no harm to check yourself for them after playing. When in the shower or getting changed is the best time obviously.

Don't put dirty clothes you've been playing in on your bed or anywhere near clean clothes. Put them straight in the wash or with other dirty clothes that are going to be washed.

If you do find one on you, as stated in the quotes from other websites above, don't squeeze it or burn it off or put alcohol on it or generally do anything which may make it regurgitate it's stomach contents, as it'll be regurgitating them back into YOU, which is a good way to pick up anything it's infected with.
Pull them out in one swift motion with tweezers as far forward of the main body as possible and give the bite a wipe with alcohol / cleaning wipe / or just soap and hot water.


If you get a rash around the bite area several days or weeks after getting bitten and begin to feel ill ( flu-like symptoms ), go see your doctor and be sure to tell them it was originally a tick bite. A search on Google Images with the keywords TICK & RASH and / or LYMES will show you what the rash looks like.

People shouldn't be terrified of picking these up or paranoid about getting some horrific disease. They just need to be aware of them is all.
If you like playing in a T-shirt and your style of play has you rolling about in ferns, you shouldn't change that, you just need to check for ticks when you get home.

http://www.airsoftireland.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=search&cat=0&pos=10

Ask 'hackedminds' over on ASI about ticks & Lymes Disease. He's completely paranoid about them. lol

CrazyRabbit

ASI Casper wrote: »

Stripping naked, smearing yourself with deer turds and rolling around naked in long grass = much more likely to pick them up. But also likely to get picked up police.

Never did me any harm. I was still tick-free. The police thought it was funny as hell, though the judge wasn't in a good humour.

weeder

ASI Casper wrote: »

Ask 'hackedminds' over on ASI about ticks & Lymes Disease. He's completely paranoid about them. lol

hes not the only one after me reading this thread

ASI Casper

Well, truth be told, most people are going to be squirming in their seat a little after reading a thread like this.
But in my view, it's better for them to be a little paranoid but informed than in blissful ignorance.

There's very little to worry about. Really! Honest!

NakedDex

I'm well used to tick's, used to get them all the time working on the farm. Usually from hay bales or loose straw left on a calf house floor. The smart moves are on early detection, have a quick check all over when you're in the shower. Tweezer them off by the head when found as described above.
They tend to be more prevalent in areas recently inhabited by animals, generally in close proximity to each other or in large numbers, they prefer warm places and are more commonly found on dry grass, reeds, and the like than they are on shaded grass or wetter areas.
That's just how I've come across them anyway. Casper mentioned wearing wick-sweats to prevent them, it does work. I almost always wear them when airsofting and quite often wear them during silage season when I'm among their ideal conditions a lot. They're not expensive and the hot-weather type ones keep you very cool without being restrictive. I'd recommend them.

Ironbar

I originally come from Germany. Where my parents live (70kms to the north of Kaiserslautern) we're plagued by ticks.

They usually sit in bushes or high grass. My niece got them almost every day last year. It would also be recommended to get the shot against meningitis because this is the sickness they spread.

When you got a tick, don't try to cut it off with a knife or put something on it. When they feel they're being attacked they release a fluid into the body that contains bacteria and germs. This will actually cause the meningitis.

Spitfire666

i was out fishing one summer in galway and fell into a sink hole in a bog, was about 10-13 at the time,up to my rib cage in mud. managed to claw my way out and got home to find about 40 of them on me. off with the clothes and into a hot showerwith a fine tweesers and i was grand.

That was the only time i ever came accross them.

heyjay14

ahhhh here now i keep thinking the little buggers are crawling all over me!!!!!!!!!:(

Lemming

heyjay14 wrote: »

ahhhh here now i keep thinking the little buggers are crawling all over me!!!!!!!!!:(

paranoia paranoia everybody's out to get youuuuuuuuu

CrazyRabbit

Lemming wrote: »

paranoia paranoia everybody's out to get youuuuuuuuu

Well I am anyhow...

Masada

I said NO to the voices but they wouldnt listen...

Spitfire666

just because your paranoid, doen't mean that they are NOT out to get you....

zero19

Freaky $hit

Alvin T. Grey

Spitfire666 wrote: »

just because your paranoid, doen't mean that they are NOT out to get you....

They're not out to get you....I am.....

Ahha...ahha.......ahahahahahahaha!!!!!

fletch...

horrible things they are, I remember my cat many years ago somehow got riddled with dem, brought her 2 d vet there was so many and I live fairly close to town.

so how exactly do I load ticks into my aeg ?
see the enemy flee before me lol!

Spetzcong

fletch... wrote: »

so how exactly do I load ticks into my aeg ?
see the enemy flea before me lol!

Fixed

Real Steyr Dave

After reading this thread after breakfast, I've decided to avoid looking at Boards.ie just after eating
I looked up lymes disease... sounds bloody horrible.
Next time I'm out I'm setting myself on fire. Cos they can't attach if I'm on fire. Of course I can't go to a skirmish either....:o

Tick Talk

Just to confirm that yes, Lyme disease does exist in Ireland. There's publications on Pubmed written by Prof Gray in Ireland where they've tested ticks in Killarney, Connermara and Wicklow and the ticks tested did carry Lyme. I run a support group for Lyme sufferers and although I myself was infected in the U.S. I have come across several people who were infected here in Ireland. The sad fact is that many people are misdiagnosed as having ME, MS or even depression or suffering from hysteria and the reality is that testing for it is hit and miss.

We have recently started a petition to make Lyme Disease Notifiable. This will help us to raise awareness of the disease in the medical profession. If anyone would like to help us sign the petition or even just click on the link to read the comments from infected people (both here and abroad) we'd be very grateful.

Our target is 250 signatures and we are almost there!

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/Lyme-Disease-Ireland

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=44960753282

Prof Gray's article:

http://www.ucd.ie/agri/html/homepage...ERM/ERM05.html

Extracts from the text - full report in link above:-

Lyme disease in Ireland J. S. Gray, F. Kirstein, O. Kahla and J. N. Robertson Institute of Zoology, Free University of Berlin, Germany; Lyme Disease Reference Unit, Southampton General Hospital, UK.

Lyme disease (Lyme borreliosis - LB) is a potentially debilitating disease transmitted by ticks, but although the tick vector, Ixodes ricinus, is common and widespread in Ireland, awareness of LB is low. The series of studies described here investigated the biology and epidemiology of Irish LB in an attempt to assess the present and future risk that it may pose.

Prevalence of infection in ticks:- The influence of habitat characteristics on risk of infection was further investigated in field studies in Connemara, Co. Kerry and Co. Wicklow, in which ticks collected from well-described habitats were analysed for infection by IFA or polymerase chain reaction (PCR). It was found that ticks collected from woodland had markedly and consistently higher infection prevalences (11-28%) than ticks collected from open farmland (0-1%), in which tick hosts were almost exclusively sheep or cattle.

Additionally, it was found that the highest infection prevalences were found in the most heterogeneous woodland, presumably reflecting the wider variety of vertebrate hosts present. It is thus apparent that risk of LB cannot be determined from risk of tick-bite alone and that the nature, abundance and variety of tick-hosts in a given habitat are also important.

So keep your eyes peeled - not only are they creepy, they're also dangerous! I haven't worked for 2 years because of this disease!!:o

Fallschirmjager

horrible little bastards...anything the breathes thru its ass is always worrying..


by the way for those of you going to Sweden for the summer game , its best to take care with these as they can carry in southern Sweden a thing called tick borne encephalitis and that is really nasty. if i remember you can get an inoculation against that. Check the map where the game is to ensure if its deemed 'southern'.

one thing i do know that works is iodine, the little gits hate that. a drop of iodine and they will fall off by themselves.

if i remember there is a clothing spray you can get that works, just cant remember the name of it.

moggser

Masada wrote: »

ive never even seen them before,., it wouldnt be on my priority list for safety really, id probably be a lot more likely to fall from a tree and break my arse bone than get bitten by one of thems.,

i'd be slighty worried about these lil fellers as which ever one of them gets
me will be a happy lil tick
there is a lot of eatin and drinkin in me lol
think ronan better set up a milsim and call it "bughunt"

OzCam

The good news is that our game location is too far north.

While Swedish ticks do carry TBE, the locals say ticks are not common in the Harnosand area and don't carry encephalitis.

This topic has been extensively discussed at berget forum.

It's always wise to check yourself over every night, and for the party to have a tick remover in a first aid kit somewhere. There will be plenty around, and most chemists & all vets stock them. I'll also bring some iodine, good tip Falls.

The insect repellent used by the British Army (and several others) all over the world is Ultrathon. Yes, it does contain DEET, but it does work, it's quite safe and you'll only be using it for a week. There are other products available which contain even stronger formulations, but remember that you need something which will not be washed off by sweat (and can have camo paint applied on top of it).

If you want to go organic, bring some TeaTree (or Ti Tree) oil. Its a great natural antiseptic and insects utterly hate it. It's one of the only two essential oils which can be applied neat to the skin (Lavender's the other). It does smell a bit though and you probably won't really want to use it as a repellent.

Mozzies: research has established that those burning coil things don't work very well and the electronic ultrasonic buzzy things don't work at all. Save your money.