: Snakes

By: g | No Comments » |

Given recent discussion on mindless banter, and it being that time of year,
this might be useful: pharmacology

Be nice, since it doesn’t seem to be that good a server. Reasonable for ID of venomous snakes, distributions, and first aid [1].

There is quite a bit of mis-information on the web about first aid for snake bites, so I’m going to repeat the St John’s recommendations. This is no substitute for proper first aid training, and I’m not an instructor. This isn’t a guarantee that a person who has been bitten will live, but it’s gotta be worth a shot [2].

Bites without provocation are very rare, and most bites occur when someone does something stupid to annoy the snake. This generally means either trying to capture or kill it. Of course MTBers suffer from the “oops” sydnrome, where you’ll run over or fall off on top of a snake you had no intention of harming. Snakes don’t like this type of behaviour. If you’re lucky they’ll bolt and all you’ll need is a new pair of undies. If you’re unlucky, this guide could help.

Basically venom travels through the lymphatic system and is slowly broken down. You’re normally only in trouble if it gets to a major muscle, eg the heart or lungs, or in some cases if it gets to the brain. Venom normally takes a couple of days to break down naturally, and by that stage the victim tends to be dead unless you’ve taken preventative action. With proper first aid and/or proper medical attention the chances of death are minimal. If you do the wrong thing they’re considerably worse. Be prepared!

First up – DO NOT TRY TO CAPTURE OR KILL THE SNAKE!!! You’ll only get yourself bitten as well. Take a photo if you can, or take a quick note of its appearance in case you can ID it later. Don’t wipe venom from around the bite either. This can also be used to identify the type of snake, which is important when giving anti-venine. Hopefully the snake will have run off. Otherwise you may have to carefully move the victim a bit. Do this as carefully as possible.

DO NOT APPLY A TOURNIQUET! DO NOT CUT THE BITE! DO NOT TRY TO SUCK OUT THE VENOM! AND AGAIN, DON’T TRY TO CATCH OR KILL THE BLOODY SNAKE!

Second, get the person as comfortable as possible, and make sure they don’t move. Try to calm them down, and be prepared for shock. A space blanket can be a good thing, only costs a few dollars, and takes virtually no space in a camelback. The idea here is to stop shock and to keep the heart rate down. While the bloodstream doesn’t carry the venom, increased heart rate will accelerate the venom’s spread through the lymphatic system.

If you’ve got a phone or a spare person, call for an ambulance. If it’s just you, stay with the person and be prepared for CPR, just in case. Here’s another reason to learn first aid. If you’re on your own and bitten and don’t have a phone you’re in a bit of a bind. Try to signal for help, but try not to get your heartrate elevated, and don’t use the limb. Unless you’re a 5 minute downhill away from a hospital, don’t try to get out on your own.

If the bite is on a limb, and it’ll normally be on a leg or arm, you need to immobilise the limb as far as possible. Start from the joint where the limb meets the torso, and bandage tightly down towards the bight, to the end of the limb, then back up to the bite. The bandage should be tight enough to press the flesh tightly, but not so tight it constricts blood flow and will need to be removed. You can get special bandages that have a pattern to indicate the correct tension, but any bandage will do, or even strips off a shirt, etc.

Dave Hughes – who is not a herpetologist.

[1] Not sure about the first aid since I can’t get in, but it’s a pharmacology site so *should* be OK. If it’s substantially in line with this then it’s probably more trustworthy.

[2] Disclaimer for obvious reasons. I’m not liable if you or someone you’re treating dies after being bitten by a snake. OK?

Dave Hughes

Some readers with experience in this area sent these notes in to us, we suggest you read them.

From Paul:

If you have a texta with you, mark on the bandage where the bite site is. This will assist the doctors in treatment of the venom. Circling the bite site is sufficient. That way when they cut the bandage to check what snake it was (venom check) they only cut the bite site and get a clean swab of venom. Snakes can be messy and leave venom on ther surface of the skin. NEVER WASH THE WOUND!!!!

Its also a good idea to write the time when the bite occured on the bandage. It gives the medicos an idea how long the casualty has been affected by the venom.

And lastly, sticks that move and have fangs – aren’t sticks.
Cheers
Paul Manuel

(These ideas in treatment are from the Army lessons on First Aid)

Rowan adds:

I am a licensed snake removalist in western australia so I know a bit about them- the correct first aid is to start the bandage at the actual bite site, go down to the end of the limb and then back up to where the limb joins the body (slightly different to what you guys got off the pharmacology website). It is also advised to splint the arm to reduce movement (as mucle movement results in increased blood flow) and not to elevate the limb (as this will cause the venom to drain back into the body).

Cheers,

Rowan

 

Tags:first aid,snakes


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