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Reptile & Amphibian
News Blog Keep up with news and features of interest to the reptile and amphibian community on the kingsnake.com blog. We cover breaking stories from the mainstream and scientific media, user-submitted photos and videos, and feature articles and photos by Jeff Barringer, Richard Bartlett, and other herpetologists and herpetoculturists.
Tuesday, December 14 2010Cell phone most important tool in snake bite kit The most important item in your snake bite emergency kit may well be your cell phone. In a recent medical journal article, Dr. Cyrus Rangan, director of toxics and epidemiology at the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, tells snake bite victims to skip icing, tourniquets, sucking venom and all the other old wives' tales. A call to 911 will be your best bet.In women, such bites are mostly on the foot, the result of accidentally stepping on or near the snake. "Ninety percent of the time men get bitten on the hand because they're doing something dumb," said Dr. Rangan. He told the story of a man who kissed a rattler on the mouth – and got bitten – in two separate incidents. For the full article, click here. I'm interested to hear what the experts in treating these injuries say. I know the Florida Snakebite Institute is very vocally against fasciotomy.
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2nd, Prior to reaching the emergency dept, the bitten extremity should be kept below the level of the heart. Once in the ER, it should be elevated to encourage movement into the circulation which acts to dilute the venom. Take the analogy of adding sugar to a glass of water and then a picture. Which is more concentrated?
and finally, Fasciotomy is only recommended once antivenin has been given, elevation has been achieved, and Mannitol has been administered. Then and only then if compartment pressures are elevated-should a fasciotomy be considered. Surgical debridement in many cases can be done outpatient after coagulation issues have been corrected.