Don’t bring snakes to emergency rooms, Australian doctors urge bitten patients

The impetus for the appeal, according to ABC television, was a particularly dramatic story last month, when a snakebite victim brought a small Eastern cobra (Pseudonaya textilis) in a transparent snack box to the emergency department of a clinic in Bundaberg on the east coast of Australia. Experts consider this to be the second most poisonous snake in the world.

“At the same time, the snake was not sufficiently secured. He was writhing inside, trying to get out. Our staff was very afraid to handle him in any way,” said the clinic’s head of emergency, Adam Michael. According to him, the patient did not speed up his treatment, but instead delayed it.

Michael also warned that trying to capture the snake puts people at unnecessary risk. In addition, hospital staff are not trained to identify reptiles, and it is not necessary to determine treatment, Michael added. According to him, doctors can deduce whether and what kind of antidote a bitten patient needs on the basis of clinical symptoms and blood tests.

A robber robbed a gas station and used a snake as a weapon

Cocktail

“Any attempt to approach a snake to catch, kill or photograph it puts people at risk,” Michael continued. “We want patients to be examined as quickly as possible, and having a live snake in the ward only slows down the process,” he added.

Australian doctors register three thousand cases of snakebites every year, but only one hundred to two hundred of them require the administration of antivenom, according to toxicologist Geoff Isbister from the University of East Australia in Newcastle.

“Don’t Panic, Don’t Wash”

“A lot of bites happen because people try to pick up, move, or do something stupid with snakes. This is exactly when they will bite you, so one should not approach them at all,” warned Isbister.

Doctors advise anyone bitten by a snake not to panic and call for help as soon as possible. “It is important not to wash the bite site in any way,” explained Michael, adding that it is necessary to immobilize the limb with a pressure bandage. “Then keep calm. This minimizes the risk of the poison getting into the body,” he added.