Doctors warn snakebite victims not to bring snakes to hospital for identification
Not only is bringing snakes to the hospital dangerous, but hospital staff are usually unable to identify the snakes
People are putting themselves at unnecessary risk by trying to catch the animals [BI]
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Doctors in Australia have urged snakebite victims not to bring dangerous animals to hospital for identification in the future. Particularly in the tropical region of Queensland, hospital staff often deal with some of the most venomous snakes in the world that have been caught by patients, Australian broadcaster ABC reported, citing doctors. They wrongly believed that it could be helpful in treatment.
In one particularly dramatic case, staff at Bundaberg Hospital, north of Brisbane, received a clear plastic storage can earlier this month containing an eastern brown snake, one of the most venomous land snakes in the world.
The reptile was poorly contained and staff were terrified, said Adam Michael, director of emergency medicine at the clinic. This significantly delayed the patient's treatment. In addition, people were putting themselves at unnecessary risk by trying to catch the animals.
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Not only is bringing snakes to the hospital dangerous, but hospital staff are usually unable to identify the snakes, Michael emphasised. Doctors can use clinical signs, blood tests and snake venom kits to determine whether anti-venom medication is needed and, if so, what type.
In Australia, where many poisonous snakes live, an average of 3,000 snakes are killed each year. However, according to scientists, only 100 to 200 of them need antivenom.
Fatal snakebites are rare — but recently, in March, a 47-year-old man died while trying to remove an eastern brown snake from a nursery. The man was bitten several times on his left arm, but he did not know whether it was a poisonous snake. Instead of calling an ambulance, the man went home. Shortly thereafter, he suffered a cardiac arrest.
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This article was originally published on Onet Travel.
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