Snakebite

[monkeybird]

http://www.rattlesnakebite.org/index.htm

http://www.rattlesnakebite.org/rattlesnakepics.htm

Warning these pictures are graphic.

I received this story via email and thought I'd share it. Snake bites are deadly. During a SHTF event, believe me this will be an issue that all of us must deal with.

Get away from the snake to prevent a second bite or a second victim. Snakes can continue to bite and inject venom with successive bites until they run out of venom.

Identify or be able to describe the snake, but only if it can be done without significant risk for a second bite or a second victim.

Safely and rapidly transport the victim to an emergency medical facility unless the snake has positively been identified as harmless (nonvenomous). Remember, misidentification could be fatal. A bite without initial symptoms can still be dangerous or even fatal.

Provide emergency medical care within the limits of your training.

Remove constricting items on the victim, such as rings or other jewelry, which could cut off blood flow if the bite area swells.

If you are in a remote area in which transport to an emergency medical facility will be prolonged, you should apply a splint to the affected limb. If you do apply a splint, remember to check periodically to ensure that it is not cutting off blood flow. Check to make sure toes and fingers are still pink and warm, that the limb is not going numb, and that pain is not getting worse.

If you have been bitten by a dangerous elapid and have no major local wound effects, you may apply a pressure immobilizer. This technique is mainly used for Australian elapids or sea snakes. Wrap a bandage at the bite site and up the extremity with a pressure at which you would wrap a sprained ankle. Then immobilize the extremity with a splint, with the same precautions concerning limiting blood flow. This technique may help prevent life-threatening systemic effects of venom, but may also worsen local damage at the wound site if significant symptoms are present there.

Applying mechanical suction (such as with a Sawyer Extractor) is highly unlikely to remove any significant amount of venom, and may increase tissue damage. This is in contrast to past recommendations by many experts.

The two guiding principles for care often conflict during evacuation from remote areas.

First, the victim should get to an emergency care facility as quickly as possible because antivenom (medicine to counteract the poisonous effects of the snake's venom) could be life-saving.

Second, the affected limb should be used as little as possible to delay absorption of the venom.

A number of old first aid techniques have fallen out of favor. Medical research supports the following warnings:

Do NOT cut and suck. Cutting into the bite site can damage underlying organs, increase the risk of infection, and does not result in venom removal.
Do NOT use ice. Ice does not deactivate the venom and can cause frostbite .
Do NOT use electric shocks. The shocks are not effective and could cause burns or electrical problems to the heart.
Do NOT use alcohol. Alcohol may deaden the pain, but it also makes the local blood vessels bigger, which can increase venom absorption.
Do NOT use tourniquets or constriction bands. These have not been proven effective, may cause increased tissue damage, and could cost the victim a limb.

The above quote is the recommendations of http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/snakebite-treatment

However the following video intrigued me. In the PAW taking a snakebite victim to the ED is not a great possibility. I do not in anyway recommend the use of the plants mentioned in this video. I can find no scientific evidence to support the treatments outlined in the video. So if you use this you're on your own. So don't sue me.

The rattlesnake master grows in the mid west. However you can order a plant for your personal use.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eryngium_yuccifolium

[Rmplstlskn]

Those pics are a scary reminder of how dangerous they can be... In a PAW, that person most likely would lose their arm at a minimum, their life would also be likely...

[protus]

this is what i tell my kid ,wife etc.

respect mother nature. If yoru not sure, dont touch,chase, poke, kick, spit,wiggle, run at anything that you dont have as a pet,plant or have in teh house.

always pay mind to the 3 "s"s

wacth where you sit,sleep,s$%^t

have common woods sense with the above, when going to bed,waking up, putting on gear,clothes, packs,and basically grabbing things.


you can only be so safe, but learning some basic " how to act" when in the woods etc goes a long way....

this is why even at 5 i take my little on into the woods, i show her plants, animal signs, bugs, bad and good ones.

last sunday......while on a day hike

" so what plant is that lil P....."
" white flower, dont touch it....."
"good job.."

all over talking with her about stinging nettles 2 months ago.........


now her sliding but 1st down a hill..and me going stop your gonna get chiggers and her giggling at me........she aint giggling today LOL
poor thing has a rump that looks like she has the chicken pocks LOL

[huckridge]

I saw a news cast this morning from an Atlanta station that said the local hospitals were treating more venomous snake bites this year than in any years past. They attributed it to the drought, saying the snakes were seeking water in areas they would normally avoid. Most bites have been from copper heads. It's always wise to check your surroundings.

Poor little thing, I hate chiggers.

[MustangGal]

We had a few rattlesnake bite patients at the vet clinic I worked for. All of them had to have the affected limb amputated.

[slingshot]

My place is well blessed with copperheads. Supposedly, nobody has ever died from a copperhead bite. I've always heard that anyone that gets bitten by a copperhead will never die of cancer. Even read that Harvard Medical School has found promising cancer treatment in rats by injecting copperhead venom. Been thinking about letting one bite me so I won't die of cancer, but then figured I'd die of a heart attack right on the spot when I got bit, sooooo - another good idea shot to h%$%%!

[snarlbuckle]

I'm no expert, but I've heard some first hand accounts of ammonia being used successfully to neutralize snake and spider venom. At the very least, it doesn't hurt to keep an ammonia pen around for the usual mosquito bites and bee stings. Don't depend on this though, seek medical attention every time you get a snake bite. The ammonia pen is just something you can apply right away in an attempt to lessen the symptoms.

[Bearman202]

The old indian approach to getting bitten by a copperhead was to find a small stream, lay down in it, and prepare to be sicker than a dog for two days. As for spiders, plantain works well for that. They're a broadleaf plant that grows close to the ground. They're all over. The thing with them is that the veins in them all start at the bottom and go straight up the leaf. i.e. they don't branch off a central vein. You break off a piece, chew it until you can taste it, then put it on the bite. I've done this myself and it doesn't taste bad at all. I'm sure you can do a search on plantain. They grow all over the place here in Missouri.

[goatlady]

Something to remember is rattlesnake venom is a neurotoxin - attacks soft tissues like skin, muscle, nerves and is really nasty stuff. Copperhead/viper venom is a hematoxin - attacks the blood, red blood cells with accompanying extreme tissue swelling. BTDT. Got bit twice on the ankle several years ago. The only thing the emergency department did was draw blood every 2 hours to measure the loss of red blood cells, stick an IV of normal saline in my arm for hydration and pump pain meds. I now know I can do all that at home and save lots of $$. I was on crutches for 2-3 weeks, and severely anemic for 3 months. What seems to help most was icy cold towels wrapped around my leg for the swelling (which lasted 2-3 weeks) and keeping the leg elevated. Every time I put the leg down to move or try to move the pressure from the normal blood flow down the leg combined with the tissue swelling about put me on the floor with pain. Just my personal experience. I have often wondered though - when my animals get bit the Vet gives them a steroid to combat the swelling and they are fine the next day so why don't the human docs do the same?

[MustangGal]

Goatlady, we just administered antibiotics. Since dogs have a much faster metabolism, I think it is less problematic for them. It was usually a seven to ten day course of antibiotics at normal doseages. The exception, of course, is rattlesnake bites.

[Elpasotom]

Any way to store antivenom for the most common species in your area? Maybe get a test first to make sure you're not allergic to th ehorse serum they make anivenom from.