RRC Archives

More info, they say the sucking things are OK.

http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/995_snakes.html

And that the tourniquet is bad,

http://www.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/08/01/snake.bites/

google is cool

Wes

Wes, from your first link:

If a victim is unable to reach medical care within 30 minutes, a bandage, wrapped two to four inches above the bite, may help slow venom. The bandage should not cut off blood flow from a vein or artery. A good rule of thumb is to make the band loose enough that a finger can slip under it.

I've always read this is a good idea. Technically, it's not a tourniquet, but may help prevent the venom from circulating too much.

Yep, so much contridictory info out there, it is hard to know what to do for sure. I think I would lean toward doing less in the field, rather then more. Esp. if transport to a hospitol wasn't going to be much of an issue. The ACE wrap seems like a good thing. The sucker things keeps coming up as something to use, if you can apply it within four min.

Wes

Roadside: 1 copperhead just past Ro
1 copperhead under the flat rock below Motha (Mother)

All this talk about what to do IF you get bit. This will be my first summer in the Red, how about some advice on how to avoid the bite altogether. I know very little about snakes. Whats that rhyme ".....friend of fellow...."?

Because of my job requirements i have to recertify every year in first aid, etc. Tourniquets are no longer considered a best practice for first aid. Staying as calm as you can and getting to a doctor are the best course. I have been told that many copperhead bites are "dry bites" because the snake is defending itself so it doesn't inject a lot of nerve numbing venum (sp?) like it would if it were hunting prey - thus the bite isn't necessarily a life threat. Most of the copperheads I have seen were docile if they were large (older i guess) and downright mean if they were small (< a year or so old). I guess they share that with humans in a way. I went for several years without seeing any snakes in the Red, back when we were having droughts a few years ago. When we have a lot of rainfall I tend to see them out and about more frequently. I've heard that is because their prey is flushed out of dens etc so they go where the food is. The den by Bonzo has been around for awhile. The Turret usually has a den too. This could be the same den though.

OK, since no one has first hand experience with this, I'll share......

The Sawyer Extractor Kit is the way to go. It has differnet size suction "tubes", and if someone has more than one bite, these will help avoid tissue damage around the bite. The hurt like hell, but it saved my ass years ago. I was bit by a small copperhead, felt like one bite but ended up being 5, all around my left ankle. 2 bites bounced off the bone, 3 did damage. IF the Extractor is applied in the first 5 minutes it is very beneficial. Copperheads contain hemotoxins, not neurotoxins, so it is extremely rare for anyone to die from a bite, or multiple bites, unless they have a severe allergic reaction far from medical attention.
In my experience I was 12 hours in getting to the hospital, and the worse part was the swelling just past the knee and crutches for 2 weeks. On the other had it's a great story for the kids.

Now rattlesnakes.....good luck.

You must have really pissed off that snake to get 5 bites. Did you step on it or what?

What's that old joke .. a guy gets bit on the dick and his friend reads in the first aid manual to suck the venum from the bite. The guy asks "what's it say?" - the friend replies "your dying."