Snakebite Treatment

[azbackpackr]

Well, I just thought it might be time for a review. I just recertified as a Wilderness First Responder, through Wilderness Medical Associates. I have their new book right here. I wanted to start this thread because I have noticed that despite at least 15 years of advice to the contrary, a few people still insist on carrying suction devices for snakebite.

The WMA book says: "Splinting the bitten extremity may help reduce pain and tissue damage, but is an unproven treatment and should not delay evacuation.... Do not apply ice or arterial or venous tourniquets. Do not apply suction or incise the wound. Suction devices, even the more modern versions, have been shown to be ineffective and possibly harmful.

"In anticipation of swelling, remove constricting items such as rings, bracelets and tight clothing.... Closely monitor any splint. If you can, mark the progression of swelling up the extremity. Make a line and write the time on the skin with a pen. This information will be helpful in the decision to use antivenin, and in deciding how much will be necessary."

It also says that, if possible, walking your patient out (or yourself, if alone) may be the quickest way to advanced medical care. Also, it is not necessary to kill and bring the snake to the hospital. Pit viper antivenin is the same for all members of that family of snakes. The antivenin has to be carefully prepared, so if you can call ahead to let the hospital know you are coming it will avoid delays. (I'm told that many hospitals in AZ may not even have antivenin, and you may be facing an air evac once you arrive at one of these hospitals.)

[Nighthiker]

Some idiot brougth a bag with a live snake into the ER one time claiming he was bit by a rattlesnake. After the folks settled down I checked the bag and it was a very unhappy gopher snake.

[heather]

Thanks for posting this Liz. I had been wondering if I should add that suction kit to my first aid kit. Now, maybe not. Daisy (my boa as a teen) bit me once. Her whole mouth wrapped around my wrist, she even unlocked her jaw. She hit that little wrist bone that sticks out. It didn't hurt, but was numb for a while. I'm glad she wasn't poisonous.

[Sparrish]

I have an extractor made by Sawyer that I used to draw wasp venom out of 6-8 stings I had on my left arm and hand. It worked quite well on the ones I could get to. I had to let the ones on my neck and shoulder go as I could not see them to apply the suction. I took 4 benadryl, went back to camp and sipped Jim Beam for the rest of the day. I ended up getting a cortisone shot about a week later to combat the venom in my system.
I would not use the extractor on a snake bite and I would try to get out ASAP and to an ER.
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“And all her face was honey to my mouth,
And all her body pasture to mine eyes;”
--A. C. Swinburne

[Trishness]

Those extractors can actually cause more harm than good and can actually spread the venom into the surrounding tissue causing tissue necrosis/breakdown.

Best advice is what was mentioned above......keep the bite victim as calm as possible, remove restrictive items and get them to an ER/Urgent Care facility as quickly as you can.
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~~~Trish~~~

"Eastward the dawn rose, ridge behind ridge into the morning, and vanished out of eyesight into guess; it was no more than a glimmer blending with the hem of the sky, but it spoke to them, out of the memory and old tales, of the high and distant mountains." � J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of The Rings.

[azbackpackr]

Well said, Trish. I have heard the extractors can be useful for the bee and wasp stings, but perhaps because misuse could occur, as in the case of a snakebite, they have not been recommended in the WMA literature. And they are most definitely not to be used to treat snakebite. I carry benedryl and an epi pen in my first aid kit if I'm hiking in a group, just in case of bee sting allergy.