beginners' kayaking safety tips

[seamonkey]

At 3:00 this guy buries the hook in his arm, that's sick!




Dark, this is from the Ocean Kayak series you mentioned.


3 safety tips

[seamonkey]

If you use a barbed hook you should have a method of cutting a hook quickly while on the water. Probably the best available tool is a lineman's cutter. This will disengage the fish from the plug, and possibly the plug from the hand once the fish is removed, or the lure removed. Is it stuck in a fleshy spot? Or does it look like it's got real meat. Don't just push that hook through without thinking to yourself, could I make this worse? Could the hook be entangled in something important inside? If there is copious bleeding, associated numbness, or near a sense organ like eyes/ears/mouth, you may want a skilled medical professional to take that out. Take out the gauze and tape, and secure the hook into a stable position and paddle in if possible or have someone take you in to shore for medical care. A missed day of fishing to repair a wound is better than the missed use of a nerve damaged finger or even worse. If the wound is only flesh deep and no hook remains, cleanse the wound as best you can, apply some antibiotic salve, and then cover well with a band-aid and dressing. Be sure to see your medical professional ASAP for a tetanus shot if you're not up to date. Here are a couple of methods that I have used over the years to get them out of myself, my father, my sons, and even a couple of friends.

Retrograde Technique is the simplest of the removal techniques but has the lowest success rate. It works well for barbless and superficially embedded hooks. Downward pressure is applied to the shank of the hook. This maneuver helps rotate the hook deeper and disengage the barb, if present, from the tissue. The hook can then be backed out of the skin along the path of entry. Any resistance or catching of the barb and the procedure should be stopped.


Retrograde Technique

The String-Yank Technique is a highly effective modification of the retrograde technique and is also referred to as the "stream" technique. It is commonly performed in the field and is believed to be the least traumatic because it creates no new wounds and rarely requires anesthesia. It may be used to remove any size fishhook but generally works best when removing fishhooks of small and medium size. This technique also works well for deeply embedded fishhooks, but cannot be performed on parts of the body that are not fixed (e.g., earlobe). A string, such as fishing line, umbilical tape or silk suture, should be wrapped around the midpoint of the bend in the fishhook with the free ends of the string held tightly. The involved skin area should be well stabilized against a flat surface as the shank of the fishhook is depressed against the skin. Continue to depress the eye and/or distal portion of the shank of the hook, taking care to keep the shank parallel to the underlying skin. A firm, quick jerk is then applied parallel to the shank while continuing to exert pressure on the eye of the fishhook.


String-Yank Technique

Advance and Cut Technique. One advantage of this traditional method of fishhook removal is that it is almost always successful, even when removing larger fishhooks; however, additional trauma to the surrounding tissue is a disadvantage. The advance and cut technique is most effective when the point of the fishhook is located near the surface of the skin and even as close to the surface of the skin it is, you will be very surprised at how difficult it is to push it back through the other side...especially since it just seemed to slip in in the first place. Don't cut the hook at the curve of the barb that's embedded itself in your skin. The barbed tip of a hook can migrate deep into your skin and require a much more complicated (surgical) removal. It involves two methods of removal: one for single-point fishhooks and one for multiple-barbed fishhooks. Infiltration with a local anesthetic is performed over the area where the fishhook has penetrated the skin. Using pliers or needle drivers, the point of the fishhook (including the entire barb) is advanced through the skin. To ease this process, I often use the corner of a razor blade to make a small cut in the surface layers of the skin first, before attempting to push the hook point through. The point is then cut free with the pliers or another cutting tool, allowing the rest of the fishhook to be backed out with little resistance. For multiple-barbed fishhooks, the area should be anesthetized and the fishhook advanced. Instead of removing the point, the eye of the fishhook is removed.


Advance and Cut Technique

Post-Removal Wound Care. After removal of the fishhook, the wound should be explored for possible foreign bodies (e.g., bait). WARNING: PUNCTURE WOUNDS GET INFECTED VERY EASILY. It is usually sufficient to leave the wound open, then apply an antibiotic ointment and a simple dressing. Tetanus toxoid should be administered to persons for whom more than five years has elapsed since their last tetanus booster. Prophylactic antibiotic therapy may be considered for persons who are immune suppressed or have poor wound healing (e.g., patients with diabetes mellitus or peripheral vascular disease). Prophylactic antibiotic therapy may also be considered for deeper wounds that involve the tendons, cartilage or bone. Follow-up care should be performed to ensure adequate healing and the absence of infection.

Your Kayak First Aid Kit. You can't carry everything so don't try to. Good pliers with cutters, a razor blade, bleach solution, to clean a wound, along with some iodine for an antiseptic. Clean water to flush sand out of your eyes. Band-Aid's, in several sizes, should be in a waterproof bag, along with gaze and medical tape. Triple antibiotic cream is worth the investment. If you are on medication, have medical problems, or have allergies, include a copy of your meds/problems on a card in the first aid kit. Some Tylenol or Advil comes in handy too and don�t forget a small roll of medical tape, and a roll of gauze.

from www.ultimatekayakfishing.com

[BassBuddah]

At 3:00 this guy buries the hook in his arm, that's sick!

And he does it without drinking any whiskey first.

[DarkSkies]

Seamonkey, this is exactly the titling template and format I was talking about.
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...ead.php?t=7017

Thanks very much for taking the initiative. Great job!
Anyone else, feel free to step and post threads like this using youtube videos from Ocean Kayak, etc, and anything else you can find to support the subject. Thanks guys and girls.