Snake bites

Snake bites present serious emergencies in different parts of the world especially in the tropics. Personally, I have never been bitten by a snake but news reports and warnings of snake bite cases abound. Do you stock on anti-venom? What specific snake or snakes afflicts people in your area and the first aid administered with respect to the same?

 

Our good friend and neighbor who lives down the road from here was working in his garden last year, and was bitten 3 times by a baby rattlesnake (around 12 inches long). He became very ill and almost died. He was in the hospital for 46 days and wound up losing his foot. I don't know if this is true for all snakes, but about rattlesnakes, they say the babies are the most venomous. This is because an adult has more control over the way it uses it's venom and will hold back some when it bites. A baby will unload all it's venom when it bites, as it has less control. Summer is approaching, be careful out there!!

 

I'm afraid Keith, what you enlisted as a first-aid measure for a snake bite is contrary to what I've been trained as a First-aider for snake bites. I'm trained by St.John's Ambulance Association and I hold a universal license for First-Aid.

What they taught us is to apply a "Tourniquet" above the knee (if you are bitten on the leg) and cut 2 inches deep at the site of bite in a + Shape. Squeeze out a good amount of blood so that max venom is drained off. The tourniquet could be a hankie with a half-knot with a pen or pencil(or a wooden stick)inserted and wrung, so as to stop the blood flow from reaching to heart. The would has to be dressed to prevent infection and to stop further blood flow.

The patient must be rushed to the nearest hospital for administration of anti-venom. There, they'll show you photographs of different snakes so that the patient may identify the exact snake that bitten him/her.

The tourniquet must be relaxed once every while in order to save the limb from dying. Bandaging, on the other hand, from the site of bite upwards would encourage blood flow and soon the venom would be circulated through the bloodstream, establishing neuro-toxicity.

I never meant to offend you Keith, but this is what we were taught.

Cheers!

 

Tim Friede says he has developed a resilience to the venom that is found in the fangs over 100 different snake species. Which is still only a portion of the world's most venomous snakes - in the wake of making himself vulnerable to 100 infusions through needle and bites he believes that he has developed is what he would like to call immunotherapy. He believes that it is a cheap alternative to curing snake bites for those that are brave enough to attempt it.

 

I give thanks that they are no harmful or venomous snake in my country. However, I am aware of the dangers of being bitten by venomous snakes. I understand that if a person should be bitten by certain snakes they chances of survival are really slim. Snakes like the black Mamba or Puff Adder to name a few. When a person is bitten by certain snakes, if the anti-venom is not administered in a short period of time then they will die. For some snake bites, however, there may be instances where when one is bitten by some snakes there is a period of time maybe up to 48 hours to apply anti-venom and that person may live sometimes with serious tissue damage, however.

 

I live in Australia as well as Keith, though I'm in Tiger Snake and Copperhead country.
I've been up close and personal to snakes in the past, and believe me, in the days before mobile phones with just you and the snake it's a very scary thing.

In a post-SHTF world I would call a snake bite (particularly from a baby as per the above information from cluckeyo, but to add to that, unlike adults they also don't offer dry bites.) a nearly always death sentence. It's not like your average lay person has the facilities or know-how to make their own antivenin.
Just take precautions, and avoid.

 

Well I have been bitten three times by snakes so I have been rather interested in the subject!
Each time I was saved by highleg boots and thick woolly socks!
Each time I had holes in my boots and a sock full of venom but no skin penetration.
I love high boots and thick woolly socks!
As far as I know in Australia Keiths advise above is correct!
Cutting and sucking went out with the millennium!
A few tips!
Have enough bandages 5-6 should do!
Have a texta/marker and circle the bite area on the bandage A&E really like that.
If there will be no hospital keep the limb bandaged for three days or more if you can then release and nurse patient!

Snakes make venom so it is biological in nature and thus will biodegrade once injected! and its lethality also degrades, by restricting the venom to the limb
for several days by the time the pressure bandage is removed the venom then circulating is less lethal!
The patient will still get sick and need nursing but should not die!

 

I have to admit that I don't know anything about snake bites except for the movies I have seen. As what @Bonzer has posted, that's also what I know although I may not do it in actual situations because I have no experience. That torniquet is to block the flow of the venom in going to the heart while the incision on the portion of the snake bite is to let the blood flow out so the venom will be purged. But then again, I have no experience so I cannot say if it is effective. Another thing that worries me is you wouldn't know if you had totally purged the snake's venom from the body. Just a little venom can still kill the victim.

With anti-venom, there is practically no chance that someone in the trip would have it. Any camper will tell you that anti-venom is only available in RITMs (research institute for tropical medicine).

 

Here all our hospitals have on hand or can get it at very short notice!
Cutting and bleeding/sucking is only feasible in the first few seconds and that is literally a few as in two seconds!
After that it just don't work ! it is more harm than good!
Nearly all snake bites are into flesh not blood vessels and it takes time for the venom to leach into the bloodstream!
Most deaths occur where a main blood vessel is struck and the victim is down in just a minute or two! no coming back from that!
You cant extract the venom from flesh!