Survival Medicine: Snake Bite

Avoid The Bite

A little common sense goes a long way when avoiding the bite of a venomous snake, not just in the U.S., but all around the world.

With all of the diverse species of venomous snakes across you North American continent, you’d expect the strategies for bite avoidance to be equally diverse. Happily, this isn’t the case. A little common sense can spare us a lot of pain and suffering. Be careful where you step in snake country and watch where you put your hands. The vast majority of venomous snake bites occur below the knee. This happens when we step on a well-camouflaged snake, injuring the brittle boned creature and inspiring a retaliatory bite. It also happens when snakes are startled by movement nearby, like you walking down the trail. If we make noise as we walk, poke the vegetation with a walking stick, and watch where we step, we can avoid this unfortunate interaction with the local wildlife. Similarly, if we watch where we put our hands, we can avoid a bite on the forearm, hand, or fingers.   

Deal With A Bite

Skip the outdated technique where you “cut and suck” a snake bite, and those venom suction kits aren’t much better. You’ll only get a tiny fraction of the deeply injected venom (maybe on tenth of a percent of the venom). You don’t want to apply a tourniquet or ice the wound either. Whatever else you do, don’t try to “capture the snake” so you can take it to the hospital for proof of species. The medical professionals in the ER do not need to see your dead snake, and they certainly don’t need a live one escaping in the building. In the rare event that you get bitten by a venomous snake, the local medical professionals only need to know the color of the snake. The bite from a brown, black or “camouflaged” snake will be from a pit viper (like a rattlesnake, cottonmouth or copperhead) and these all respond to the same antivenom. The bite from a red, yellow and black striped snake will be a coral snake (much more dangerous and requiring different treatment). Whichever species bites you, get away from the animal and stay calm (to keep your heart rate down). Take off your rings, watches and jewelry, to prevent extra tissue damage when the swelling begins. Cover the bite with a clean dressing, and get to definitive medical care (a hospital) as soon as possible. The CDC averages show more than 7,000 venomous snake bites in the U.S. annually, but the number of fatalities is tiny (about 5 people per year). Stay calm, get to the hospital, and you’ll beat the odds.

While the idea of being out in the wild with snakes isn’t exactly cozy, don’t let that stop you from learning how to survive in the wild. Snakes or no snakes, the outdoors is your true habitat.

Written by Tim MacWelch First draft published on outdoorlife.com