Posted on 12/01/2010 5:07:57 PM PST by decimon
Should you be the victim of a snakebite, the best thing you can do is get to a hospital as quickly as possible, according to a new review article from the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (JAAOS). Current medical treatments, including new medications and surgery, if necessary, are far more effective for snakebites than anything you can do on your own.
“Previous generations of antivenin medications were notorious for causing negative systemic reactions,” says Adam W. Anz, MD, an orthopaedic surgeon at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, NC. “But the antivenins we have available today can not only help avoid long-term damage from the snake venom, but they can also prevent the need for more invasive medical treatment.”
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* Approximately 45,000 snakebite injuries are reported annually in the United States.
* Seventy to 80 percent of snakebites occur in males.
* More than half of snakebites are to the hand(s).
* Most snakebites result from intentional exposure, whether in a professional context (e.g., snake handling) or nonprofessional context (e.g., playing with snakes in the wild).
* Alcohol consumption is involved in the majority of bites, resulting from risky behavior.
* The high correlation between alcohol use and hand injury implies that bites occur when the victim is behaving in an unsafe manner, not when he or she is attempting to evade the snake.
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(Excerpt) Read more at 6.aaos.org ...
Ha!, Beat me to it!
I hike quite a lot here in FL. I have a minor fear of being bitten while on the trail. It is generally too hot to wear snake boots (if I owned a pair). Most places are far enough out that my chances of walking out on a bitten leg/ankle are poor and remote enough that cell phone coverage is nil. Rattle Snakes (and others) often lie on the trail in the sun. If I were to inadvertantly step on one, I’d be in a bad way. I’m thinking about geting a “Spot” emergency satellite messager for “just-in-case”.
You have FRmail.
Most of the time I don't notice them until...the cats get to them. Two cats to be exact.
I sit and watch the festivities with a cold brew and cigar. Most entertaining.
On a serious note, the cats have prevented me from being bitten, probably five to seven times.
5.56mm
Yep, I do that now ever since one bit me once. Luckily it was just a garter snake. It was totally my fault for playing with it... :(
but if I see one in the wild, I don’t mess with it.
Me neither. Unless it is a green grass snake. Those are cute and fun to hold.
I was born in the Florida panhandle and have a lot of snake stories. I have killed a lot of rattlers, mostly in the 5 foot category but one huge 7 footer.
My Sister stepped on a large rattlesnake when she was a two year old toddler. She was extremely lucky in that it did not strike. Have also killed a large number of cottonmouths and all of them have been just about the same size.
Withing the last two months I have killed two copperheads. They were the first ones I have seen since around 1960. They were identical and both in the same spot several days apart.
I have had several friends bitten, all by cottonmouths and all while fishing.
It’s that tail shake thing the snakely ones do.
‘Tis wonderously hypnotizing I hear.
Did they get very sick?
Is that John Kerry?
No. It’s John Carry...
They all had to go to the hospital but none of them were near death. One was a 280 pound guy who played tackle on our high school football team.
He was bitten fairly far into the woods and his friend carried him out. I have no idea how big his friend was but it is still amazing that someone that big got carried a mile or so.
Another was our coach. He was bitten on the thigh when one dropped into his boat from a branch.
Poor fellows name was Johnson wasn't it? :)
When I was on a Boy Scout camping trip, one guy got bit by some kind of harmless snake, forget which one, and every member of the troop had their snakebite kits out and were practically fighting to be the one to “treat” him.
Those little lancets scared him worse than the snake.
1. Bottle of Jim Beam
1. snake
That seems to be the formula.
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