A hiker was airlifted to a hospital Tuesday morning after suffering an allergic reaction to fire ants on the Lower Tangerine Falls trail, according to the Montecito Fire Department.
Crews were dispatched around 10:15 a.m. March 3 to the West Fork of the Cold Springs Trail for an injured female hiker.
Montecito firefighters and Santa Barbara County Search and Rescue team members began hiking toward her location.
Santa Barbara County Air Support Unit Copter 308 located the hiker, lowered a rescuer and hoisted her out, officials said.
She was flown to a hospital for further medical treatment. Her condition was not immediately available.
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Interesting and scary wiki about them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_ant
Where are the kiosks and docents warning people to carry fire ant anti-venom before they head out on the trail?
Bit by a red ant? Join the club.
Once again from BI Guy, an ignorant and thoughtless comment to denigrate someone else’s misfortune.
What a wonderful human being.
What sort of “doctor” doesn’t understand https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/8619-anaphylaxis ?
Should have just left her there to die, what a waste of our tax dollars, amirite?
LOL Sac, that made me totally belly laugh….office is staring lol…that was the best response i’ve heard yet to his comments.
Wow! Yet another danger on our local trails that most hikers are not typically concerned about. Now we can add fire ants to the list of things to avoid if possible: bears, coyotes, mountain lions, rattle snakes, and poison oak. It’s good that people are now aware that fire ants are no joke. When out hiking, make sure to check before sitting on a pile or red ants or even resting your arms or hands against trees or bushes. Being altered by weed/drugs/alcohol does not help keep us safe either. Sure it can be fun when hiking to have a few puffs or edibles and a couple of brewskis. But know your limits and don’t go overboard with that stuff!
Bees, are you careful with the brewskis and edibles before posting simpleton drivel here?
hope she is ok
ouch! poor lady. hope she healed fast. allergic reactions can be life threatening. epecially when you just discovered that you have that allergy. it’s a frightening experience. i’ve been bit by red ants, fire ants too. It sucks. When i lived in texas, we would get these huge fire ant mounds periodically in the yard. flamethrower to that (BBQ lighter fluid and a match usually solves that, but do not put M80 firecrackers in them like my neighbor did! you’ll launch the ant colony in every direction including on you if you’re close enough.
Fire ants, and ants in general, may bite, but it’s the sting that injects venom.
Yeah, the bite is just how they hang on while they sting you: https://www.fireants.org.au/dangers/stings