Posted on 05/16/2020 5:57:49 AM PDT by Enlightened1
WINNEMUCCA, Nev. (News 4 & Fox 11) Mike and Carie Johnson of Winnemucca are demanding change after their 3-year-old daughter, Alyssa, died from a rattlesnake bite over the weekend.
"In Humboldt County, we need a real hospital here, one that actually has good training," says Carie.
The Johnson's were walking near their home on Saturday when Alyssa was bitten. Her father rushed her to Humboldt General Hospital where they say she was denied anti-venom treatment for three and a half hours. The family claims doctors said she didn't need anti-venom and was stabilizing.
"They were not out," says Mike. "They had it. They told us both they had it, that she didnt need it.
Alyssa's parents say that after nearly four hours, hospital doctors decided Alyssa should be transported via ambulance to Renowns Children Hospital in Reno for treatment. Carie tells News 4 Alyssa's condition worsened on the drive and Humbdolt General Hospital ambulance staff didn't do enough on the way to Reno.
I say to them shes snoring, thats not normal, and they say oh thats just because of the medicine. I say "okay" because theyre the experts. And then I was like "shes not breathing right," and I rub here chest and they say just keep stimulating her.
After getting to Renown, Johnson says staff gave her anti-venom three times and even flew-in a specialist from San Francisco, but it was already too late. Alyssa passed away at the Reno hospital.
An honor walk was held on Wednesday afternoon at Renown.
Now, Alyssa's parents are weighing actions against Humboldt General Hospital. They say changes and better training are a must.
"We're hearing too many stories of how horrible it is," says Carie.
(Excerpt) Read more at mynews4.com ...
Yep! When you’re in Rattler country you always have to be aware. I’d still like to know where and how the child got bit.
Are you comparing heart surgeries to brake jobs? Just trying to figure out your base line for comparison.
Thanks. The only high boots I have are rubber rain boots. I guess I need to get some leather high tops. I have some that are sturdy leather and go just to the ankle. I suppose that’s not high enough. Are you in the Oklahoma area?
Well, she didn’t have COVID so they weren’t supposed to work on her anyway with the hospitals overwhelmed with COVID and all. /s
There’s a wide variety of snake protection out there from boot’s and chaps to pants and legging’s.
Agree with your sentiment, I go hiking in the mountains of Reno almost every day. Encountering rattlers is something that goes with the territory but there is no valid reason to practice Darwinism.
Pet dogs are the largest victims, people let their dogs run wild and children are no different.
Letting a small child meet a rattlesnake and a rural hospital (they especially should know better) not treating the child is double incompetence.
Sounds familiar. Some things about the old Permian Basin of the early to late 70s, when I was there, I miss. It was a time of activity but still a time of the more-or-less “old oilfield”. Three footage wells were considered no problem for one foreman to keep up with. Even though they were all at least 50 miles apart the morning reports were all expected to be picked up and called in by not later than 0600. We had just closed the Monahans office where all the drilling of Hailey, Evetts and Gomez gas fields had been managed from and moved the drilling group to Midland. The last company rig had been lost in a blowout. Big gas wells all the way down to the Ellenberger.
Drilled a well near Pyote and had a drilling foreman who would try to take a walk in the evening for his health. He would keep to the middle of the lease road but ended his walks when a big rattler stuck his head up from between the pipe on the cattle guard. He was the same guy who rolled a pickup off the road in Wyoming I believe in a snow storm. He survived but it took a bit to find him.
Good times, great memories and stories. I used to look at the Conoco lease south of Big Spring with envy. All painted nice and roads in good repair. Ours was a poverty operation by comparison. All of our money went to the emerging offshore work off Louisiana back when a 400’ platform was really deep water. My last wells were in 10,000’ of water and I consulted on projects in 12,000’ off Brazil.
You know how every good oilfield story begins? You also know who tells the best one in a bull session?
The doctors let themselves get behind the curve waiting to see if she had a dry bite or not.
My wife was bitten a few years ago by a Copperhead. It seems that the normal procedure is to draw a circle of a known size around the bite site and monitor for swelling to determine how much if any venom was injected.
The usual medication used to treat RS bites is Crofab. It can have nasty side effects so it is not just automatically given on all bites.
They waited too long.
Even if she looked fine at first, I don’t know what a rural hospital would be thinking to take a risk with a toddler like that, why not just call a children’s hospital straightaway and ask?
I’ve got 2 sections that butt up to the east side of the CONOCO lease you describe. The south end of our place crosses over 821 and east of 87, nth ends goes all the way up to just nth of I-20 east of Coahoma. Signal Peak set’s in the middle of the ranch.
Well, I’m going to have to get something! Mr. Flaming Conservative thinks I’m overreacting, just because we found that huge (there was 4 FEET left of it after he ran over it) garter snake, and there are copperheads 3 blocks away, but our yard is surrounded by unkempt bushes. I think I’ll hire someone from church to clean that all out. We’re only in our late 60’s, but we have some health issues that make upkeep difficult for us.
colorado. Yes if you can get ankles covered and jeans over the top of the boot you are in the best position. Most bites i have treated are either on the ankles or hands
I stepped into the carport and a copperhead was overhead, in the rafters. Its head & upper body zinged out & hissed at me, right at eye level.
Would have been bitten in the face, except I moonwalked like Michael Jackson just in time.
Yep, and the mouse, rat and other rodent/vermin population will explode.
Pick your poison
“”Yep, and the mouse, rat and other rodent/vermin population will explode.””
We have a roundup every year and no explosion. There’s plenty of good snakes and other critters to keep them in check.
Did you kill it?
When cardiovascular surgeons go to their big annual conventions here in the US, cardiovascular fatalities go down without fail. So says my wife.
You are correct. However we don’t know why this happens. I taught a course in advanced bio-statistics. My hypothesis was that the blood density was an increasing function vs age. Boy, I was wrong. A premature baby has an average blood density of 95, yet a grown man has on average of about 75. It’s one of the reasons premature babies get jaundice.
Women have the worst blood density, especially at the onset of menus. So why a rattlesnake bite is so deadly for the young is not because of blood density.
Many hospitals do not have medicine for rattlesnake venom. I’m not disagreeing with you, but doctors almost killed me several times. I only fear my GOD more than a doctor.
Check out snake gaiters on Amazon. I used to think a person needed “snake boots.” But with all the modern materials, gaiters cover the legs from top to bottom but are still lightweight and not too hot. You just pull them over your boots.
I tell people to make sure they have above the knee coverage. My first bite was 20 inches up the leg, right behind the knee. That Rattler was over 5 ft.
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