Icky water

[bassplayer]

Went diving in the Toronto Harbour area last weekend (Lake Ontario). Some small stones got in my dive boot and caused a slight abrasion between two toes. The toe became infected and spread to my other toes, to my foot and right up my leg. A Doctor visit then later a hospital visit and I am doing ok now, but it was a little scary at the time. The doc figured the infection was probably caused from e-coli in or around the water/beach.

So if you are diving around "icky" water be careful if u get cut!

[Geoff_T]

Originally Posted by bassplayer

Went diving in the Toronto Harbour area last weekend (Lake Ontario). Some small stones got in my dive boot and caused a slight abrasion between two toes. The toe became infected and spread to my other toes, to my foot and right up my leg. A Doctor visit then later a hospital visit and I am doing ok now, but it was a little scary at the time. The doc figured the infection was probably caused from e-coli in or around the water/beach.

So if you are diving around "icky" water be careful if u get cut!

water born infections can be nasty pieces of work glad you are ok.

[rumblefish]

Nasty. Hope you get better. Guess there's reason that people don't dive the East river here in NYC... That and the occasional floaters that turn up now and then.

[diver-wife]

Originally Posted by rumblefish

Nasty. Hope you get better. Guess there's reason that people don't dive the East river here in NYC... That and the occasional floaters that turn up now and then.

by floater can I assume you mean someone in the water without proper scuba gear?

Seriously there are some nasty bugs in some water, that is why I prefer the ocean. At least it is dilute.

[CompuDude]

Yup. Diving clean sea water can actually help clean your injuries. Sadly, here in the US (not that we have a monopoly on pollution!) there are a LOT of locations where nasties in the water will make things worse instead. Lakes and water holes can have some really horrific stuff in them.

Of course, bactine, hydrogen peroxide, iodine, betadine or some other wound cleaning antiseptic solution should always be used to clean injuries that have been exposed to the elements.

[BuzzGA]

Don't forget places like S. Fl that pump sewage into the ocean. Fish like to hang out around the pipes...but I'll leave that dive spot to others. I did hear however that pumping in S. Fl may soon be a thing of the past

[Geoff_T]

Originally Posted by BuzzGA

Don't forget places like S. Fl that pump sewage into the ocean. Fish like to hang out around the pipes...but I'll leave that dive spot to others. I did hear however that pumping in S. Fl may soon be a thing of the past

not just s- florida there are a lot of cities and towns where this still happens to some degree.

[longtailbda]

I'm glad things are going well hearing about experiences like yours is what makes me always take a good first aid kit with me whenever we travel.
If you want generally clean water one of the places to look may surprise a lot of people, its NJ. They test water quality off the coast more often than any other state. Every once in a while you'll hear of a problem here, but think of the places that only test monthly or less often what are they missing.