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Snake Bites - What to do?

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mary in South Africa,, Travel Tips,,
October 18th, 2011 at 2:50pm
Tags: bites,, hikes,, snakes,, walks,

As we all know, summer in Cape Town opens up a range of outdoor activities for the many enthusiasts who have waited months to reclaim their stage on the great outdoors.

Of course, we are not the only ones waking up to a new season. The more experienced nature walkers for example will be only too aware that snakes too will be reappearing after their well deserve winter hibernation.

There are loads of posts on the topic, so I thought I would run you through the pointers.  

Let me get the statistics out of the way. Reportable only 20% of snake bites will require major treatment, with roughly 15 fatalities in South Africa each year - about 1 in every 68 bites.  

Venom can be categorised into 3 groups - there is a lesser know 4th group, Myotoxin venom, but this is reserved for snakes species that do not appear naturally in South Africa.

Neurotoxic venom - attacks the central nervous system affecting movement, breathing, swallowing, speech and sight (Most cobras, mambas and berg adders)

Haematoxic venom - interferes with the clotting ability of blood, disabling its ability to coagulates (boomslang and twig snakes)

Cytotoxic venom - attacks the body cells or tissues, usually extremely painful and swelling . (Adders, spitting cobras and rinkhals)  

 

What to do in case of a puncture? 

Do's:

1. Remain Calm and reassure the person who has been bitten. Fear and  anxiety cause an increase in heart rate, and thus a more rapid spread of venom throughout the body.

2. Try to get a description of the snake, however never waste time looking for the snake. The symptoms will give the doctor a good idea of the kind of snake (neurotoxic etc.), and the severity of the bite. Most doctors would have trouble identifying the snake anyway.

3. If medical assistance is more than 30 minutes away , wrap a pressure bandage around the site of the bite - Start at the bite site and work upwards (i.e. from fingertip to armpit; from toe to groin). Do not remove clothes as the movement required will assist the venom to spread. Wrap the limb tightly but do not cut off the blood supply. Remove all jewellery as swelling may prevent you from doing this later.

4. Keep the person as still as possible and immobilise the affected limb with splints (on either side of the limb.

5. If a snake spits into someone's eyes, rinse the eyes with large amounts of water, preferably by holding the head under a running tap, this too will require treatment at a hospital

6. Keep a close eye on the patient and record symptoms and the time taken for them to appear.

7. If the patient stops breathing, administer CPR until they can get expert medical help. 

 

Dont's

1. Don't use antivenom except in a hospital environment.  Anti-venom is derived from horse serum and a large percentage of people are highly allergic to it. Your patient stands a good chance of surviving the bite without anti-venom, whereas anaphylactic shock will kill them. 

2. Don't cut into the wound - All you will probably do is assist the venom to spread more rapidly

3. Don't suck the wound - If you have cuts in your mouth there will be two patients where there was one

4. Do not make a tourniquet (this means to tie a cloth tightly around the arm or leg) as this will kill the arm or leg below it and it might have to be amputated later, as well as concentrate the venom (if it was a venomous bite) in the area and kill that body part off quicker.

5. Don't use electric shocks - this is a complete myth and you are more likely to kill the patient than cure them

6. Don't apply heat or ice - neither will do any good and both may cause harm

7. Don't give the patient anything to eat or drink - this may reduce the effect of the anti-venom when administered

8. Don't rub potassium permanganate into the wound or soak the limb in home remedies

9. Don't give any medicine to the patient - application of these substances make diagnosis far more difficult once you arrive at the hospital. 

 

Prevention is less painful than the cure

Although it is really important to remember that most snakes aren't venomous, and more than often even if the bite is from a venomous snake , it will seldom be fatal.

Don't try to catch or kill snakes - this is how most bites occur.

Watch where you step.

Wear boots and long trousers when going on walks and step on top of, not over, logs or rocks.

Stick to footpaths where possible.

Don’t put your hand into holes, onto out of sight ledges, or under objects when picking them up.

Stay away from "dead" snakes - they may be only playing dead.

Always keep your cell phone with you when hiking, and keep it charged. If you're going to be in an area without cell reception, make sure someone knows where you're going and when. Make sure you have the correct emergency numbers for your nearest medical facilities.

 

Important numbers to remember:

Poison Unit, Red Cross Hospital                      021 689 5227

Groote Schuur Hospital, Casualty                     021 404 4141

Tygerberg Hospital, Poison Unit                        021 931 6129

Constantiaberg Mediclinic, Casualty                 021 799 2087/021 799 2122

 

Thanks to Venomous Snakes of the Cape Peninsular and Health24.com for information 

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Recent Comment

  • 1: 

    Good information Mary, thanks. And by the way, if anyone is thinking “that’s the last time I go hiking” don’t worry too much: I hike these Cape mountains up to 3 times a week and see a snake about once a month, even fewer in winter. Most snakes I see are small and harmless and I probably see a ‘bad boy’ about once a year.

    Bees, dogs and baboons are of far more danger than snakes in the sense of the likelihood of getting attacked.

    Expert on the Ground
    thefynbosguy
    October 18th, 2011 at 3:10pm

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