Last night, we heard a knock on our back door at about 8 pm. Sam asked me to get the door since she can’t speak French and didn’t know who it was. Well, it turned out to be Clementine, our next door neighbor and her little brother Frankie.
Clementine asked me for some ice, saying something about a scorpion. Well, I didn’t see the connection between ice and a scorpion, but I went for the ice and sent Frankie to get our guard. I figured Erique, our guard, would know what to do about a scorpion.
Sam came out to see what all the excitement was about, and she realized that Clementine had actually gotten stung by the scorpion. Clementine started saying something about needing a razor blade to cut open where the scorpion had stung. Apparently, cutting open the scorpion sting/bite is to avoid the scorpion’s poison spreading into the blood stream. However, scorpions (at least the ones we have here) aren’t poisonous. At that point, Sam decided to call Carol (the doctor) and see what she had to say about scorpion stings. While Sam is trying to reach Carol, Frankie comes back with the razor blade.
Now, I’m a little skeptical about the cutting open thing (at this point, I don’t know the rational behind the cutting), but I know that at the very least, the blade needs to be sanitized. So Erique and I sanitize the blade with hand sanitizer and fire. Then Clementine’s mom comes out to see what all the excitement’s about. She then grabs the blade, and I look to Sam to see what info she’s getting from Carol. Finally, Sam comes back, saying that Carol insisted that no cutting should happen (at the risk of infection). Of course, by now, Clementine’s hand is already bearing a small knife wound.
For the next few minutes, Erique, Sam, and I converse in three different languages, trying to let Clementine’s mom know how best to care for the wound. We decided the best solution was simply Ibuprofen and Benadryl.
I saw Clementine today and helped her clean and cover her wound. She seems to be doing fine. And Lord willing, no infection will set in.
