The North Borneo state of Sabah is known worldwide for its beautiful islands and dive sites. Local hospitals deal with a number of marine-related injuries, including marine fauna envenomation by Scorpaenidae and Synanceiidae families of fish. We report a case of a tourist who presented with excruciating pain on her right foot after stepping on a stonefish. Despite being given parenteral analgesia and regional anaesthesia, the pain persisted. Her pain improved after she soaked her foot in hot water for about 30 minutes. No further treatment was required. We reviewed the literature comparing this inexpensive mode of treatment with other conventional treatments. We also explored the possibility of using hot water immersion for treatment of envenomation by other types of marine animals.
Ambulance response time (ART) has an inseparable relationship with mortality rates and therefore is important to be reduced. However, an unprecedented increase in road traffic congestion has led to longer ART, especially during peak hours. To reduce ART despite congested traffic, a pre-dispatched ambulance is deployed at hotspot locations during peak hours. This study aims to determine if the hotspot strategy is able to reduce ART in an Urban Emergency Medical Services system.