LETTER: Victim of insect stings got life-saving care in minutes

To Ozaukee Press:

I’m writing about the news story in last week’s Ozaukee Press about a young EMT student who treated a man with an allergic reaction to bee or wasp stings with an epi injection (“EMTs quick thinking saves a life”).

I am the wife of the victim of multiple yellow jacket stings and an RN for 44 years. My comment is about the sentence saying there were three hours between the incident and emergency service initiation. That is incorrect and may lead some readers to think that they have hours before an insect bite may become an emergency. 

The victim stated at 10 minutes after the stings that he was unwell and received Benadryl and an epinephrine inhaler from me as I called 911. Danika Schroeder brought the epi syringe and used it twice at the order of a fire department staff member. 

If not for her bringing the epi injection, the team would have been doing CPR until the ambulance team arrived. The time from event to transport to the hospital was less than 40 minutes. 

I just want to stress that insect bite emergencies need to be addressed in minutes, not hours. 

Nancy M. Halonen

Belgium

Editor’s note: We thank the letter writer for the additional details concerning the emergency. All of the information in the news story, including the time lapse between the stings and call for help, was provided by the Belgium Fire Department.