Florida water bug bite treatment?

Were they the small little water bugs that buzz around in circles, or were they freakishly large, menacing-looking water bugs? I'm a life-time Florida resident, and the poisonous water bugs are often confused with the non-poisonous ones. The small ones are harmless. It's the big ones that will bite you. Very painful. Here's a link for what the bad ones look like: http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/foltz...lostomatid.htm

They're huge so you can't miss them if they're in a pool. Apparently some people eat them in Asia. Gross.

Yech! I will never move to Florida now. I just don't do big bugs.

I used to be scared of bugs, but now I've just kind of accepted them. I live in South Florida near the Everglades.

Fortunately Gainesville is more in Central Florida. Bugs aren't so much of a problem there.

Florida is a nice place to live for the most part. The thing about Gainesville is that it's a college town. Everything there revolves around UF. Aside from the university Gainesville is hick country. Kind of isolated. That's the weird thing about Florida: it's a Southern state, but there is just enough Northern influence to make it tolerable. Mix that with South American influence along with retirees from Michigan and New York, that's Florida.

Enjoy.

Uck...I don't live far from Gainesville and I have never encountered the giant water bug. I have come across the smaller one. Unfortunately bugs are a huge part of living in Florida. I am terrified of pretty much all of them. Especially the spiders. But, I don't ever want to live anywhere else so the good out weighs the bad! I live less than an hour north of Gainesville. Not quite into Jacksonville.

As far as evacuation...most of the hospitals require you to work during an evacuation. You call before you leave and they will tell you to come in or evacuate. If they tell you to come in and you don't you will have an unexcused absence. Fortunately, Gainesville does not have many mandatory evacuations.

most hospitals in florida, especially in coastal areas, have a mandatory hurricane policy.
you work A (pre and during the storm) team or B (post and after until the all clear) team. where i work, you can pick which team, as long as they are both even (ie, everyone has a relief person)... but you don't get much of a choice, you have to be there in the event of a hurricane.

i live on the beach, so we are in a mandatory evacuation zone. i spent hurricane frances, hurricane jeanne and hurricane wilma at work. being at the hospital is much safer than being at a shelter or trying to ride it out at home... and you are the only place in the area with power, water and food.

the people who didn't show for hurricane duty, either A or B team, were terminated. after the storm hits, the national guard will usually come in and patrol the roads, esp if theres enough damage where there are looters. in order to get anywhere without the risk of getting arrested, you must have a valid ID that shows you are a medical professional, firefighter, police officer, etc....

but gainesville doesn't have toooo much to worry about. the storms are usually about dead by the time they hit orlando. the only people who have mandatory evacuations are those of us like myself who live in an evacuation zone--usually within 15 miles or so from the water, i think it is.

welcome to the sunshine state.

they come to work too!
our hospital utilizes the people who are not in direct patient care such as materials, HR, medical records, switchboard, etc to man a kid-care area and a pet-care area... and they also had areas for people with elderly parents. last hurricane, there were 2,000 employees and their loved ones.... and a zoo like you wouldn't believe. people bought in their dogs, cats, fish tanks, iguanas, whatever. the requirements are that you bring 2 gallons of water per person or pet per day, plus at least a 4 day supply of nonperishable foods like soups and stuff. we all share what gets bought in.

it's an experience, thats for sure....

my little brother is going to UF in the fall so i will be visiting gainesville alot more then. the only thing i can say that i know about the area is be careful when driving through the surrounding little places like waldo----they wait for speeders!!!