Snakebite Emergency Tips: First Minutes Matter
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Getting bitten by a snake is a scary, scary thing. While some snakes tend to be placid or maybe don’t have venom that poses a threat to humans, some of them are highly aggressive and can strike with the suddenness of a lightning strike.
And a lot of them are extremely venomous, and yes there are a number of snakes out there that can deliver a fatal bite to humans. But while the level of danger does, of course, vary from species to species, it rarely has to be a death sentence.
Note is that the possibility of you actually being bitten is relatively low. Snakes aren’t that common in built-up areas and they do tend to avoid humans.
If you are in an area that has a higher threat you can plan in advance to try and ensure that you do keep them at bay, but sometimes you just get unlucky. And if you do happen to get bitten, it’s extremely important that you stay calm. Panic will only make things worse.
What you do in those first few minutes are absolutely crucial to your survival, so here are a couple of things it’s very important for you to do straight away
Call Emergency Service
This should definitely be your top priority in this situation. Because while there are important steps you can take to prevent serious harm, there is only so much that you can do as someone who doesn’t have medical training.
In an area where there are dangerous snakes, every nearby hospital will have medical professionals who are trained to deal with exactly this situation and more importantly, they will have antivenom.
There is poison inside of you that needs to be removed and you can’t do that yourself. But someone else can. You need to this as soon as the bite happens, because the clock is ticking, and some snakes have very fast-acting venom.
If you’re in Sub-Saharan Africa for example and you happen to get a bite from a Black Mamba, you could be dead within half an hour if you don’t get an antivenom. So don’t hesitate for even a second, get an ambulance heading your direction right away.
You’re probably not going to run into a Black Mamba in Mississauga, but still, treat every bite like it’s a Black Mamba bite and get help quickly.
Try Not To Move Unless There’s Still Danger
The way that snake venom is going to kill you is if by destroying cells and disrupting nerve impulses, but the toxins can’t really get to work on you if they are localized in one place. The venom needs to spread through your bloodstream.
This will happen more quickly if you move around. When your active, your body requires more oxygen which is transported throughout the body by blood and so your blood will be pumping faster.
You have to try and prevent this by staying still and keeping your heart rate low. Sit down, take deep breaths and keep the affected body part below the level of your heart if you can. This will slow it down significantly.
You should only move if the snake is still a threat. A second bite will just double the amount of venom in your system so if the snake doesn’t flee after biting you then you need to be the one to flee.
Don’t try to fight back, don’t try to stand your ground, just put distance between you and the danger.
Cover the Bite
Another way that you can slow down the spread of venom is to put some pressure on the wound. If you have a bandage, then cover up the bite with that and put some kind of marker on the exact spot where the bite is for when the paramedics arrive.
If you don’t have a bandage, just use a torn piece of some other kind of fabric. Unless you’re running around naked for some reason you’ve got something that you can tear up and tie around the bite.
Even if you’re wearing your best shirt, not dying from a snake bite is a much more desirable outcome than looking good. Do whatever you need to do to get that thing covered up.
Take a Mental Picture of the Snake
We have come a long, long way when it comes to treating snake bites. There is an antivenom that can deal with an attack from pretty much every different kind of dangerous snake on the planet, but it’s not one size fits all.
Maybe it will be someday, but for now, you are going to need a specific type of antidote, depending on the species that you’ve been bitten by. Maybe one day we’ll have one cure for all snake bites but for now, this is how it’s done.
But all you really need to do is take a good look at the snake before you or it gets the hell out of there. Take note of the size, the color, the shape of its head and the pattern of its scales if you can. Was it hooded, did it have a rattle, anything you can think of is going to be helpful.
You could take a picture if you wanted but I wouldn’t run the risk of taking out your phone and opening up the camera while you’re still so close to the snake. Your memory should be enough to help your doctors identify what kind of snake it was.
Make sure you tell them when you call so that they can bring the antivenom with them.
DO NOT Use a Tourniquet
There is a time and place for a tourniquet and this is not it. You should put pressure on the wound as we discussed above, but do not tie something just above the bite in the hopes that it will stop the toxins from spreading.
This is not going to work out for you. While it will actually stop the toxins from spreading to some extent, it will also stop the blood flow into whichever limb you’ve got the bite on and that combined with the toxins will lead to disastrous results.
You’ll probably end up having that limb amputated. As long as you get the antivenom into your system quickly, it doesn’t really matter if the toxins are given the chance to spread a little, especially if the alternative is a missing limb.
And also, despite what you saw in Snakes on a Plane and probably a bunch of other movies, don’t try and suck the venom out of the bite. That’s not actually possible, it goes very deep, very quickly.
It’s important not to panic. If you call emergency services right away and you know what steps to take yourself in the first few minutes, you can survive a bite from almost any snake out there.
