The custom in medieval Europe was to hang the deceased food critter on a hook until it fell off: the putrefaction process tenderized the meat. The origin of the heavy sauces of French cuisine was related to covering up the flavors acquired. There is a distinction between food infection (like salmonella)-ingested bacteria cause an infection in the body; and food poisoning (like botulism)-the bacteria grow in the food, and deposit toxins, which cause symptoms when ingested. Boiling does a good job of killing the bacteria that cause food infection, but not so good a job of lysing the toxins, some of which, like prions, are stable at temperatures well above 100 Celsius.
Brussel sprouts are pretty safe. Soy beans, too. Indian tribes chased into the Adirondack mountains by the Iroquois ate inner-layer birch bark, boiled up like pasta. 'Adirondack' means 'bark-eater', the earliest North American pejorative ethnic term.

Nice job on the first aid-the good outcome is a tribute to your thorough cleansing of the wound, and to your immune system, which is apparently strong enough to kill squirrels in your front yard, let alone elk bacteria.