Getting Hooked! Fishermen can prepare for hooking injuries

dsc04304__hook_typesMany fishermen are familiar with the feeling of getting a fishhook stuck in their hand, arm or elsewhere. Usually, it’s a quick fix if the fisherman can jump in a car and head to an emergency room or to a clinic. However, if they are out in a boat on Cook Inlet or nine miles out on a remote river, (or out in the ocean) professional medical help may not be so immediately available. Being up to date on tetanus shots is a good preventative measure, said Dr. Rod Hall, a physician at Health North Family Medicine. Based on the kind of injury, the person will need a tetanus booster in the future — if it’s a clean cut, 10 years is fine, but if it’s not, five years is better, he said. Tetanus shots are available, but there is no antitoxin and the disease can be deadly. If fishermen want to take it out themselves, they should push the hook through the skin and flatten the barb against the hook with pliers before withdrawing it back the way it came out. Read the rest here 11:12

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