First Aid Kit Gadget: Tick Remover

[yknot]

That method is generally not effective. Use tweezers. Personally, I find surgical bulldog clamps the best. You can get them in a surgical supply store and toss them in your kit. I have about 4.

 

[HashTagScouts]

7 hours ago, qwazse said:

Taking a 1st Aid Course now. The EMT and nurse teaching it swears by q-tips dipped in dishwashing liquid for tick removal.

From someone who has unfortunately contracted Lyme's from a tick, this is not at all the method that the CDC recommends.  It causes the tick to regurgitate into the bloodstream before it backs out.

https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/removing_a_tick.html

[Eagledad]

2 hours ago, yknot said:

That method is generally not effective. Use tweezers. Personally, I find surgical bulldog clamps the best. You can get them in a surgical supply store and toss them in your kit. I have about 4.

 

Surgical supply store? Is that next to Walmart?

Barry

[yknot]

Well, I've got as many surgical supply stores within driving distance as Walmarts, so perhaps so. Another type is hemostat clamps. All these things have small teeth and they click into a self lock. You can get them on Amazon if you are not close to civilization. I don't just use them for ticks, I use them for a lot of stuff. 

[desertrat77]

From my old handbook, the famous ISP edition, 1972, coat tick with grease or oil.  After it lets go, wash with soap and water. 

I recall a lit match or cigarette held close was also recommended back in the day.  

These days I find good success with the tweezers from my Swiss army knife and forego the grease/oil/gasoline/ammonia/match/cigarette.  Soap and water is still adhered to.

Edited October 20, 2019 by desertrat77

[RememberSchiff]

Tweezers from my Swiss army knife works for me, that and staying on the trail. 

[ItsBrian]

I have carried a tick key in my first aid kit for a few years yet never used it. Over the summer at the camp I worked at, I got 3 ticks within a 24 hour period on the same leg. I’m still not sure how that happened, but that’s besides the point. 

I found them later at night, so they were on there for a few hours each time. I decided to try the tick key because I wouldn’t of been able to use tweezers in two spots due to it being an awkward angle. I must say, I’m a fool for never using this before. My ticks weren’t big but weren’t small. The key was so simple and effective. It took no more than 2 tries each to get rid of the whole entire tick. It took me less then a minute each time.

[mrkstvns]

On 10/20/2019 at 12:31 AM, RememberSchiff said:

Tweezers from my Swiss army knife works for me, that and staying on the trail. 

...where's the adventure in staying on the trail???

[qwazse]

On 10/19/2019 at 8:42 PM, HashTagScouts said:

From someone who has unfortunately contracted Lyme's from a tick, this is not at all the method that the CDC recommends.  It causes the tick to regurgitate into the bloodstream before it backs out.

https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/removing_a_tick.html

The CDC site does not say anything against applying soap first causing regurgitation. It's specific advice is against "... “painting” the tick with nail polish or petroleum jelly, or using heat ...".  But, it also says apply soap afterword. Remember, that low pH is the best bacteria killer available.

The supposed effectiveness of q-tip is in its ability to catch the beasts legs which, because of the soap, no longer have a grip on the skin.

But, the main advice is that time is of the essence. Truth is, the tick is already regurgitated while feeding. The longer you wait, the more backwash seeps out the end of its "straw." So while you all are getting your devices, I'm grabbing that bug by the abdomen and pulling it off of my hide with the first thing I find (and that's usually my fingers). When dealing with someone else, I see the point of using tweezers and cleaning with soap (while wearing a pair of the non-latex gloves from your kit)! But, if I were to think of it on the spot, I'm more likely to find that tick-picker before I find any other tool or soap.

Edited October 21, 2019 by qwazse

[desertrat77]

37 minutes ago, mrkstvns said:

...where's the adventure in staying on the trail???

If you hike in many places in Oklahoma, you'll stray off the trail once.  If not the ticks, the chiggers will definitely convince you the trail isn't so bad after all.    In which case, bring some old fashioned lye soap, lather, wash the chigger bites good, but don't rinse.  Works well.

[mrkstvns]

I think I'd prefer the tick key.  It's small, lightweight, and effective. When I'm on a hike, I carry a *SMALL* first aid kit, there is no room for bottles of dishwashing liquid or even fingernail polish, etc.  

The best approach to ticks, IMHO, is to...

1) stay on the trail as much as possible,

2) keep those pant legs tucked inside socks,

3) use insect repellant, and

4) have a tick key in the event that prevention alone doesn't do the trick.