Summer 911

Plant poisoning
What you need to know: Plant poisoning results from contact with the resin of common poison ivy (a climbing or crawling vine with three-leaf clusters that are waxy green in spring and yellow or red with white berries in fall), poison oak (shrub with three coarse leaflets and hanging yellow flowers) or poison sumac (water-loving stalks with seven to 13 leaves).
Symptoms: Itchy, burning red rash develops within two days. It can progress to weeping blisters that take weeks to heal.
Treatment: Immediately wash exposed areas with soap and water. Ease itching with calamine lotion, cool showers or oatmeal baths, which also dry blisters.
Prevention: Silicone and petroleum barrier creams may protect skin. Wear gloves when gardening and fully cover arms, legs and feet during walks through natural habitats. Weeping blisters won't spread the rash, but contact with unevaporated resin on clothes, toys, garden and sports equipment, the family pet and dead plants can.
Seek medical attention: when extremely large blisters appear; there is swelling on sensitive areas, such as the mouth, face and genitals; or secondary infections develop within a broken blister.

Insect stings

What you need to know: Nonallergic reactions to bee, wasp, hornet and other stings result in local pain, itching and a welt around the sting site for about 48 hours. A small percentage of people experience severe allergic reactions, which can include unusual swelling anywhere on the body, hives, vomiting, stomach cramps, diarrhea, breathing difficulties and even, in rare cases, death. People who are allergic must have an immediate shot of epinephrine, via a spring-loaded EpiPen and a fast trip to a hospital. If you live more than 20 minutes from help or are travelling, carry extra EpiPens or ask your doctor about an Ana-Kit, which contains a higher dose of epinephrine.
Treatment: Bees leave a barbed stinger and a venom sac (which actually looks like a tiny sack). Flick or scrape it off with a fingernail, credit card or knife back. (Use tweezers only if you can certainly grasp the stinger below the venom sac.) For all nonallergic reactions use ice and calamine lotion or a paste of baking soda and water to reduce pain and itching.
Seek medical attention: immediately if an allergic reaction is evident or if there are multiple stings or ones around the mouth and eyes.

Tick bites
What you need to know: Ticks are tiny (about three-millimetre-long) spiderlike insects that attach themselves to the skin and feed on blood. Ticks can spread Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Lyme disease and certain types of viral encephalitis, so the sooner you locate and remove the offending bug, the better.
Symptoms: A tick is barely visible and its bite is painless, but a tick grows to resemble a small blood-engorged pea within a few hours as it feeds.
Treatment: Gently grasp the tick's head as close to the skin as possible with fine-point tweezers. Do not sever the head beneath the skin. Carefully pull it out. Wash the area with antiseptic.
Prevention: Always wear a long-sleeved shirt and long pants with cuffs tucked into socks when walking in the woods. Afterward, thoroughly check skin and scalp.
Seek medical attention: if rash, headache or flulike symptoms appear within a few days. Bites from infected ticks require antibiotic therapy.

Heat rash
What you need to know: Also known as prickly heat, this rashlike skin condition occurs during hot weather when close-fitting garments restrict air circulation and cause inflamed sweat glands. It affects children most often and can be a precursor of heatstroke.
Symptoms: Irritating raised, red rash.
Treatment: Take frequent lukewarm baths and use calamine lotion.
Prevention: Keep clean and cool, limit exposure to sun and avoid excessive exercise on hot days. Wear clothing made of breathable, natural fibres.
Seek medical attention: when inflammation doesn't ease within one day. A persistent rash may indicate other problems, such as allergies or measles.