Snakebite!!!! The Myths and the Facts Part 3

[DaboiaRusselli]

Ahh I see...good point! (I gather coral snake bites are rather rare anyway, aren't they?)

[kyreptilezoo]

Yes, most people bitten by corals are either:

1. Gardening or digging in the topsoil, and don't see the snake, or.

2. intentionally messing around with the snake.

They are rare in the US; pitviper bites are much more common.

[wardenphil]

@DaboiaRusselli See my comment for Part II.

[DaboiaRusselli]

Out of curiosity...would a pressure bandage work on a bite from a coral snake?

[kyreptilezoo]

Yes, but we don't mention it for US snakes generally because of the risk of someone misunderstanding it and using it on a pitviper bite- that would be BAD.

[MooingTricycle]

Extremely informative videos! Thank you for making these, and speaking about the myths and facts, I always believed that a tourniquet would help all bites.(i dont keep hots, and dont plan on it,so i dont know too much about them!)But you proved that to be not as helpful as it sounds

I am curious though, are there certain species that a method, such as the wrap you spoke of, or a Tourniquet COULD help at least reduce the major effects of the venom in time to get to a hospital for medical care?

[kyreptilezoo]

Thanks. For neurotoxic species, such as some elapids, a pressure bandage wrap can help buy some time. However, if you use this on a species that can cause tissue damage- i.e. the vast majority of American pit vipers- it will greatly increase the tissue damage at the site of the bite and the bitten limb. You really need to know the species and the venom in question to make this call. So, we don't recommend it as we are in the US.A tourniquet is never a good idea for a snakebite.

[bat1986]

interesting series of videos, living in the UK but being a venomous keeper some of the things said are obviously not relevant, but its good to see, well thought out educational videos.

The one thing that worries me slightly is the AV being administered within two hours, the two main places in the UK where AV is kept are London poisons unit (which is probably less than 2 hours away traffic depending) and Liverpool school of tropical medicine which would be less than 2 hours if they flew it in

[bat1986]

having said that in a real emergency I do believe AV would be flown in, also motorcycle couriers would do a good job, another thing that worries me is the lack of knowledge by UK hospitals in these situations, I obviously have my envenomation protocols to take with me but initially that is all they would have to go on.

Anyway great video il be watching the channel more.

[kyreptilezoo]

Thanks! Liverpool sotm is the home of Dr. Warrell, who is probably the best snakebite physician in the world today. I do not make that statement lightly. He is a great Dr. and a great person, and I would trust him with my life. If you keep venomous and have a protocol, you may consider putting the unit there on the protocol as consultants. Just so you know, that 2 hr. window is advocated by Dr. Warrell- it was discussed at a snakebite meeting a few years ago.

[bat1986]

Yeah he had a look at my protocols when I first started actually, I emailed them to him, I have the number, in office and out of office hours number for LSTM on my protocol, hopefully I will never need it but its there just in case. Its good to know that such a highly respected Dr on the subject is here in the UK.

[swimzmako]

do they inject from an iv or do you swallow it?

[swimzmako]

or injected

[kyreptilezoo]

Given by IV only.

[swimzmako]

Thanks for the replie =).

[kyreptilezoo]

All antivenom basically is used the same way. Freeze dried antivenom is great because it has a longer shelf life and can tolerate higher temps than liquid- good for developing countries. It has to be reconstituted with sterile water before use- this can cause a small delay. All antivenom must be given IV in a hospital. N.naja and kaouthia have specific antivenoms made for them- you need to use the antivenom that is made for the animal that bit. Both naja and kouthia antivenoms are lyophilized.

[runnerrk]

very interesting...

is there a significant toxicity variance between hemotoxic venomed rattlers?...diamondbacks, timber rattlers, prairie rattlers, etc...

is the antivenom for rattlesnake bites made from the venom of each individual species or is there a 'common' rattlesnake antivenom?

[kyreptilezoo]

Crofab is a polyvalent which means it is made to cover many species. Mojave,Eastern diamondback,western diamondback and cottonmouth. This antivenom works on all our rattlesnakes in the USA .

[cappstreet89]

how is the liquid antivenom applied? how is the freeze dried antivenom applied? to treat naja naja, and naja kaouthia bites (i.e. bitten in the hand), what kind of antivenom is necessary and how does it need to be applied? I appreciate your response. Thanks