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First aid · Australia

Insect and marine stings

Move away from the source and get help. For breathing difficulty, a swollen tongue or throat, collapse, widespread allergic symptoms or severe illness, use an adrenaline injector immediately if available and call 000. Marine first aid depends on the species and location: do not rub the sting or use vinegar unless the relevant Australian guidance says it is appropriate.

Medical emergency? Call 000

What to do

  1. Leave the danger

    Move away from the insect or marine animal and, if in the water, get the person out. Get a lifeguard or other local help when available.

  2. Anaphylaxis: act immediately

    If there are signs of anaphylaxis, lay the person flat unless breathing is difficult, use their adrenaline injector immediately if available and call 000. If they become unresponsive and are not breathing normally, start CPR.

    Take care. Do not delay 000 for breathing difficulty, collapse, severe symptoms or an unknown tropical marine sting.

  3. Bee and insect stings

    For a bee sting, scrape or flick out the visible stinger without squeezing the venom sac. Wash an insect sting with soap and water and use a wrapped cold pack for pain or swelling.

  4. Bluebottle and non-tropical jellyfish

    For a bluebottle or other non-tropical jellyfish sting, wash tentacles away with seawater, not fresh water, and use hot water that is no hotter than can be comfortably tolerated for 20 minutes. Do not use vinegar for these stings.

    Take care. Do not rub a jellyfish sting or wash it with fresh water.

  5. Tropical or potentially lethal jellyfish

    For tropical or potentially lethal jellyfish, call 000 and follow local lifeguard advice; vinegar may be used for 30 seconds for those species, not bluebottles. Fish, stonefish, blue-ringed octopus, cone shell and sea-snake injuries need their species-specific emergency pathway.

    Take care. Do not use vinegar as a generic treatment: it is not for bluebottle stings and is only considered for potentially lethal tropical jellyfish under the relevant local guidance.

    Take care. Do not use pressure immobilisation for jellyfish or fish stings; it is a different pathway for selected venomous bites such as blue-ringed octopus and sea snake.

Know when to act

When to get help

  • Call 000 for breathing difficulty, a swollen tongue or throat, wheeze or persistent cough, dizziness, collapse, widespread allergic symptoms, severe or worsening pain, suspected tropical stinger, stonefish, blue-ringed octopus, cone shell or sea-snake injury.

Children and babies

  • Children can deteriorate quickly after anaphylaxis or a marine sting. Use the same 000-first escalation, keep hot water comfortably tolerable rather than scalding, and in tropical northern waters treat an unknown jellyfish sting as potentially serious and get lifeguard help.

Keep checking

  • Stay with the person and keep watching breathing, response, swelling, pain and delayed symptoms. Follow the local species pathway and start CPR if they become unresponsive and are not breathing normally.

What you may notice

  • A local sting may cause immediate pain, redness, swelling or a visible insect stinger.
  • Anaphylaxis can cause difficult or noisy breathing, swollen tongue or throat, wheeze, dizziness, collapse or abdominal symptoms after an insect sting.
  • Marine stings range from painful bluebottles to potentially lethal tropical jellyfish, venomous fish and envenomation that needs pressure immobilisation.

When help arrives

  • Stay with the person and keep watching breathing, response, swelling and pain while help is coming.
  • Tell responders where the sting happened, when it happened and what the animal or insect looked like if known. Do not handle or catch it.

Other useful answers

What if I do not know what caused the sting?

Move away, get a lifeguard or other local help and call 000 for severe pain, breathing problems, collapse or an unknown tropical marine sting. Do not guess a one-size-fits-all treatment.

Marine bites need their own pathway

Blue-ringed octopus first aid

Snake and other venomous bites

Sources and last update

Content updated: August 2026.

These sources inform the guidance. This independent resource is not a substitute for a first aid course or medical assessment. An editorial update is not independent clinical review. Source organisations have not endorsed this site.

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