Snake Bites

Before you begin:

• Make sure the scene is safe.
• If the snake has been killed, bring the snake with the victim to the hospital. Doctors in the hospital will know what snake bit the patient and administer the correct antivenom.
  • Try not to get bitten yourself.
• If you have a snake bite kit and know how to use it, use it!

No snake bite kit?

• Call emergency services
• Get the patient to sit; should they get dizzy, they won’t fall.
• Bandage the wound with a pressure bandage.
  • Wrap around the limb as high up as possible.
  • Give some pressure to the bandage, but not so much that it becomes a tourniquet.
  • This slows the absorption rate of the venom.
• Keep the patient calm. Increasing the patient’s heart rate will increase the circulation of the venom.
• Keep the limb lower than the heart. This will also prevent the venom from circulating around the body.
• When emergency services arrive, do not let them walk to the ambulance. Instead, use a stretcher or a golf cart. This will prevent excitement of the heart, which prevents the spread of venom.

Stuff you do not want to do

• Don’t use a cold pack. This has once been suggested, but is now no longer needed.
• Don’t suck the venom. This won’t help the patient at all, and you also risk poisoning yourself.