Shake, Rattle and Bite ~ By, John Howsden

With April approaching, two things come to mind: rattlesnakes and taxes. What’s the difference between a bite from a rattlesnake and an audit from the IRS? The snake bite might kill you, but an audit goes on forever.  Since an audit is such an unpleasant ordeal much beyond our control, let’s focus on something we can control: treatment for a venomous snake bite.

Snake bites aren’t funny; several people die from them each year, especially children.  There are four types of venomous snakes in this great country of ours, but we only have to worry about one in Copperopolis—the rattlesnake. Although a bite from a rattler may not kill a healthy adult, it can cause extensive tissue damage. Besides, why suffer any injuries at all when help is just a phone call away.

Should you find yourself snake bit, the first thing to do is get away from the snake. That’s probably why he bit you in the first place. Don’t try to catch it or kill it, and “Don’t drive to the fire station,” says Joe Butler, a paramedic with the Copperopolis Fire Department. The best thing you can do is call 911, stop moving and keep the bite below the heart.

If you feel you must do something, you can “circle the bite with a pen and write the time of the bite,” said Butler. This gives the medical personnel a reference point to judge how fast the venom is traveling. While waiting for the paramedics, you may notice a burning sensation in bite area.  Not to worry. Once the fire paramedic is on scene, you’ll most likely get hooked up to some morphine, provided you’re not under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Granted, this is a lousy way to get five milligrams of morphine, but when used properly, this wonder drug really is what the doctor ordered.

With professionals now on the scene and morphine easing the pain, the only thing left to do is fulfill the Fire Department’s main priory of, “getting the patient to an approved facility in a timely manner,” according to Butler.

Depending on the condition of the patient this may mean a ground trip via an ambulance to a local hospital or zipping across the sky in a life flight helicopter to as far away as Davis.  Whether it’s by land or air, you’re in competent hands and on your way to where medical staff are waiting with the antivenin in hand.  

Even though the fire paramedic, flight nurse and, and emergency doctors are in place to help you, there are many things you can do to improve your situation. 

The information listed in the boxes is the latest dos and don’ts of first aid for a venomous snake bite. Only Cleopatra VII, who committed suicide by enticing a venomous snake to bite her on her left breast, would ignore this information. But then again, who knows what kind of audit she may have been facing.  

Do these

·        Do apply first aid if you cannot get the person to the hospital right away.

·        Lay or sit the person down with the bite below the level of the heart.

·        Tell him/her to stay calm and still.

·        Cover the bite with a clean, dry dressing.

Don’t do these

Do NOT allow the person to become over-exerted. If necessary, carry the person to safety.

Do NOT apply a tourniquet

Do NOT apply cold compresses to a snake bit.

No NOT cut into a snake bite with a knife or razor.

Do NOT try to suck out the venom by mouth.

Do NOT give the person stimulants or pain medication unless a doctor tells you to do so.

Do NOT give the person anything by mouth.

Do NOT raise the site of the bite above the level of the person’s heart.

Update:
Mountain Valley EMS protocol for Parmedic and EMT treatment standard states 'keeping extremity at heart level.'
While waiting for emergency assistance the US Library of Medicine and Mark Twain St Joseph's Hospital states that the snake bite victim:

Immobilize the bitten area and keep it lower than the heart.