Korea First Aid: Jellyfish, Sea Urchin and Insect Stings

Skip urine, alcohol, sand, paste, cutting and other folk remedies. First move out of the water or away from the insects, identify the injury category, and get a lifeguard or safety worker. Call 119 immediately for breathing difficulty, mouth, tongue or throat swelling, fainting, confusion, seizure, unconsciousness, severe whole-body pain or symptoms spreading quickly beyond the injury. In Korea, 122 reaches the Korea Coast Guard for an active maritime rescue; 119 dispatches fire, rescue and emergency medical response. If someone still needs rescue from the sea, tell 122 the position and hazard; if urgent medical help is needed, call 119. Do not delay one while trying to decide whether the other may also be needed.

Make the person safe before treating the skin

Do not leave someone alone if they are weak or dizzy. At a staffed beach, go to the rescue station; staff can identify a current local hazard and arrange care. Tell 119 the beach, trail or nearest numbered entrance, what happened, when it happened and what the person is doing now. Put the call on speaker and follow the dispatcher.

If the person has a prescribed epinephrine auto-injector and appears to have anaphylaxis, help them use their own device exactly as taught and activate 119. The 2024 American Heart Association and American Red Cross guideline calls intramuscular epinephrine the immediate mainstay and says emergency response should also be activated. An antihistamine may ease local itching, but it does not replace epinephrine for anaphylaxis.

Jellyfish: for an unknown species, seawater first

Leave the water without rubbing. Tentacles can still discharge even when they look motionless, so keep bare hands away. Korea’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries says to remove visible tentacles with chopsticks, a card edge or another suitable tool, then wash thoroughly with seawater or saline. The CDC likewise advises copious seawater and allows forceps or a card edge.

Do not use fresh water for the first rinse; it can trigger more stinging cells. Urine and alcohol are not recommended. Vinegar is species- and location-dependent: the CDC notes benefit for some Indo-Pacific species and increased discharge in some temperate species. In Korea, do not improvise with vinegar: use it only when a lifeguard or a current local protocol directs it for the suspected species. Do not substitute urine, alcohol, paste or another folk remedy.

For pain, follow the safety team. The Korean ministry distinguishes a warm compress around 45°C when there is no redness or swelling from a cold compress when redness or swelling is present. The CDC says about 45°C hot-water immersion may help some venoms but the evidence is limited. Check temperature carefully; a burn adds another injury. Avoid tight wrapping, sand scrubbing and returning to the water. Seek care for a large or multiple-area sting, worsening or severe pain, eye or mouth involvement, persistent skin changes or any general symptoms.

Sea urchin: stop when the spine will not lift easily

A sea urchin injury is a puncture wound. Move off the rocks, gently clean surface contamination and use hot water that is tolerable and not scalding for pain. The CDC notes that retained brittle spines can cause inflammation, infection and scarring, and may require medical removal.

Do not cut the skin, squeeze the foot, probe with a needle or keep excavating a fragment. A dark dot may be pigment, and a fragment may remain without a visible dot. If a loose superficial tip does not lift easily, cover the site and stop. A clinic should assess deep or numerous spines, a puncture near a joint, trouble bearing weight, increasing pain, spreading redness, drainage or fever. Tetanus booster and antibiotics are clinician decisions, not automatic beach treatment.

Bee or wasp: remove a retained stinger; treat a tick differently

Move to a safe area first. If a honeybee stinger remains, remove it as soon as possible. Current AHA/Red Cross guidance says either plucking or scraping can be beneficial; speed matters more than insisting on one technique. Wash with soap and water, then use a wrapped cold pack for local pain or swelling. Do not put ice directly on skin or apply soil and paste.

A small painful or itchy swelling at the site is different from breathing difficulty, widespread hives, repeated vomiting, dizziness, or tongue and throat swelling. General symptoms can progress quickly. Help with the person’s prescribed epinephrine when indicated and call 119; do not wait for an oral allergy tablet to catch up. Eye stings need professional assessment. Multiple stings, worsening swelling, infection signs or an uncertain animal also deserve medical advice.

An attached tick is not a bee or wasp stinger. Do not scrape it with a card, squeeze its body, twist it with bare fingers, burn it, or coat it with oil or chemicals. Use clean fine-tipped tweezers to grasp it as close to the skin as possible and pull upward steadily without jerking; if the tick cannot be removed cleanly or the site is difficult to reach, get medical help rather than digging. Clean the skin and hands afterward, note the date and place, and seek medical advice for fever, rash, spreading redness, worsening pain or other illness. Do not take antibiotics or other medicines “just in case” unless a clinician prescribes them.

One rule works across all three

Leave the hazard, identify whether this is tentacles, a puncture or an allergic sting, and use the matching first aid. Take a quick photo of the skin and—only from a safe distance—the animal if practical. Note the time, what was applied and how symptoms changed. This is general first-aid information, not a diagnosis; severe, worsening or uncertain symptoms, a large affected area, many punctures, or an injury involving the eye or mouth need professional care.