Snake Bite

Every year thousands of Americans are the victim of a snake bite.  What do you do to survive a venomous bite?  The following post is from REI's site and written by a member of NOL's Wilderness Medicine Institute.

Each year in America some 6,000 to 8,000 people report venomous snakebite injuries, most by rattlesnakes. Amazing myths persist about what one should do in such an emergency, everything from sucking out the venom (which doesn't work) to electrocuting the bite victim (which hurts and just might kill you).

We at the Wilderness Medicine Institute of NOLS have been teaching people how to handle medical emergencies for over 20 years. While we love a good, improvised traction splint as much as the next person, when it comes to rattlesnake envenomation, we know that there's really very little we can offer a patient besides a speedy evacuation. The truth is that when it comes to rattlesnake envenomation injuries, the only thing that really matters is how quickly the patient gets to the hospital and receives proper antivenom therapy.

 

To read the rest of this fine post go here.