Five pages, one question each
- 01Snakebite
Queensland Health’s first aid for a snake bite, whole and in order, and the three things it rules out.
- 02Spider bites
A funnel-web bite and a redback bite need different first aid. Both Queensland procedures, whole.
- 03Possums
Protected wildlife, licensed relocators, and why a possum is released within 25 metres of where it was caught.
- 04Renting
Who keeps a Queensland rental free of pests, and what an owner cannot require when the tenancy ends.
- 05Mosquitoes
Ross River virus as NSW Health describes it, and Queensland Health’s dengue mosquito, which breeds in containers.
Three facts with the bay in them
- 01
Sea snakesAustralia has 32 recorded species of sea snake, the NSW environment department says, and healthdirect treats every snake bite as a medical emergency, sea snakes included.
- 02
BoatsQueensland Health lists neglected boats, with rainwater tanks, tubs and pools, among the places that can breed thousands of dengue mosquitoes.
- 03
25 metresA possum taken from a Queensland roof by a licensed relocator must be released within 25 metres of where it was caught.
The two numbers on Queensland Health’s page
Queensland Health’s bites and stings page closes with two lines worth knowing before you need them. The first: “If you have any concerns with level of consciousness or breathing call 000 immediately.”
The second: “If you have any other symptoms from or concerns about a bite or sting please contact one of our Registered Nurses at 13 HEALTH by phoning 13 43 25 84.” 13 HEALTH is Queensland’s line, and the page describes it as qualified health advice around the clock for the cost of a local call.
Why a tide table
A tide table is a plain list, in order, that someone standing at the water can take in at a glance. These pages borrow its shape. Every first aid procedure is printed word for word, in the order its source gives it, and any line left out is named on the page, with the step numbers in the left-hand column where a tide table keeps its times. They are steps, not times.
The same column carries the stages of getting a possum out of a roof, the readings of a tenancy from move-in to move-out, and the years of the two cases the tenancy authority describes. Where two official pages disagree, as they do about catching a snake that has bitten someone, the page sets the two side by side and says which is which.
Queensland first
The first aid comes from Queensland Health’s bites and stings page, and the dengue details from its dengue page. The possum page rests on the Queensland Government’s page about possums, and the renting page on the Residential Tenancies Authority. Where a Queensland page does not cover something, a few facts come from NSW Health, the NSW environment department, healthdirect, the Better Health Channel and others, and the sentence names the source each time. Every source is linked in the list at the foot of the page that uses it, and each page was checked against its sources on 8 October 2026.
For anaphylaxis, the severe allergic reaction, ASCIA publishes a first aid plan for anaphylaxis as a printable PDF. The snakebite page is the place to start if you read only one.