Snake Venom Removal Question again

TOMBSTONE

TOMBSTONE

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Oct 31, 1998
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Awhile back,I asked about snake bites,venom etc.Basically,the new way of handling such emergencies is to get medical attention asap.No cutting or sucking was a bad idea I was informed.My question was if you can't get to medical help in time or at all because of location is there anything you can do medically for yourself in the meantime?Looking in Brigade Quartermaster catalog,they list an H.Sawyer Extractor"only kit proven to remove medically significant quanities of venom"Vacuum pump produces 750 millibars of suction,no cutting of bite site required.So what is the opinion of the experts here on this device and snake bite care.Even if you get to a hospital you would need many vials of anti-venom,but would this help for you to survive an invenimation where you cannot get medical help at all or a long delay?Or are you just **** out of luck in a real survival situation?
 
The Sawyer Kit is the best field expedient kit available. Slowing the bodys circulation will help reduce the spread to vital organs such as your kidneys(most likely organ for permanent damage). This means no running about to get to medical care. Get a vehicle to the person or quickly rig a stretcher/travois, keep the limb lower than thena heart, use an Ace or sports wrap on the limb(BUT NOT Tight- no cutting off the circulation). Use ice ONLY if medical attention will be delayed 2 hours or more- the use of ice near the bite will make it difficult for the trauma team to determine the victims reaction level to the bite.
Check the AMA site, look to the wilderness medcial sites & also try www.kingsnake.com - go tto forums, then venomous and ask there as many of these people are experts with hots annd store their own antivenom. They are,by need, very well versed in handling bites.

Remeber that many defensive bites are "dry" meaning no venom is injected. In wet Africa there are villages with many amputees, medical attention is so far away and these folks live in the company of the Gaboon Vipers- when bitten, they use a machete to amputate the foot that was bitten!! Our pit vipers RARELY bring death(diabetics, elderly, young and those allergice to bee venom) but do bring a great deal of pain with the swelling...
Later,
Bill
 
I agree with most of the ideas with a few exceptions.The Sawyer extractor is the best bet out there right now and should be standard in any summer FAK.What I disagree with is the use of torniqets,I think that in a deep wilderness setting a torniqet could save your life if applied correctly.One of the biggest things I disagree with is the use of anti venom.Anti venom can kill just as easily as the venom itself.A lot of people have allergic reactions to it and it is very hard on the body.The best bet is to use intra venuos(spelling)fluids to flush the body and dilute the venom or to let the body absorb it slowly and naturally.If it were me I would deny any anti venom at the hospital but would opt for other methods or wait it out.I know several people bitten by copper heads who received no medical treatment at all.Whether their bite was hot or not who knows but there was swelling and tissue loss.But then again I am talking about american pit vipers not African or South American which may be much different,and their poisons do different things to the body.
 
Marsupial,
I hope nothing in my post advocated a tourniquet or self administered anti venom. Along with this: do not bother shocking yourself with a stun gun or car battery... :) A paramedic that applies a tournie has some 'splainin to do' & anti venom is potentially worse than the bite- this is why getting to the hospital is key. The ACE bandage can slow circulation in the affected limb but these are not used to STOP flow- this can bring on conditions for gangrene as can untreated venomous bites. For those allergic to anti venom(this can be teseted given a non critical situation) there are effective hospital treatments that can save a life or an extremity.
In the hinter land, many will 'survive' the bite only to fall victim to gangrene and possibly septisemia(sp?).
 
Sorry Imalterna,didnt really mean to refer to your post but was referring to some general misconceptions as a whole.I agree with the ace bandage as well as getting to a hospital.I also heard of the shocking treatment a while back and now heard it does not work.I am just a firm dis believer in anti venom,I have heard some really bad stories.I also watched a show interestingly enough about a girl in costa rica bitten on the foot by a fer de lance,She used a Sawyer and according to the show it saved her life removing much of the venom(she lived).But the real lesson to the story was that she was walking in the jungle at night with flip flops on(stupid).In the jungle you wear ankle high jungle boots and long pants for many reasons other than snakes.Common sense plays into all these scenarios:) .
 
read a story years ago about a guy splitting wood, reached for the next piece and a rattlesnake tagged him on one finger. His immediate reaction was to put the finger on the chopping block, and then he threw it off somewhere. Later someone told him they might have been able to reattach it, but it was rather too late. Ouch.

Not sure if i remember if it was true or just a story.
 
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